The Finnish firm has started to invest more in Internet services in recent years, seeking to counter falling handset prices and increased competition in smartphones from the likes of Apple and Blackberry-maker RIM.

The Linux Maemo operating system is seen as key for Nokia in its rivalry with Apple Inc’s iPhone, and many analysts and industry players have been expecting the firm to roll out numerous Linux models already next year.

“This is not necessarily worrying, but they need a hit product. It has to be a winning one and Nokia needs to continue to work on Symbian in the meantime,” said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi.

Nokia started to sell its first Linux phone, the top-of-the-range N900 model, this month.

“The potential of Linux computer operating system is in the high-end, and we have not yet fully harnessed that,” Ari Jaaksi, head of Maemo at Nokia, said.

Full story at indiatimes.com.

ViVOtech provides end-to-end NFC Payment Infrastructure including Over-The-Air (OTA) provisioning, Electronic Wallet and NFC Readers at Merchant Locations

Silicon Valley-based ViVOtech, the leader in Near Field Communication (NFC) and contactless payment systems, announced that its NFC mobile payment wallet, Over-The-Air (OTA) provisioning and NFC payment readers are being successfully used by Dubai First, a Dubai Group company and du, the UAE’s integrated telecom services provider, in the first NFC mobile payment pilot in the Middle East scheduled to continue till the second quarter of 2010.

During the trial phase, identified Dubai First Platinum MasterCard customers will be able to download their credit card functionality securely to specially equipped mobile handsets over du’s mobile network. Once the handset has been personalized, customers could conduct transactions using their du mobile connections at multiple MasterCard PayPass(TM) enabled merchant locations in the United Arab Emirates.

The first pilot group is in the process of receiving special handsets from du in the next 2 weeks; facilitating the use of this unique technology at MasterCard PayPass(TM) enabled merchant locations across the UAE.

ViVOtech technology was chosen to facilitate every step of this trial:
–  ViVOtech Issuing Servers residing at Dubai First enabling the secure
Over-The-Air (OTA) provisioning of credit cards to mobile handsets
–  ViVOtech Control Servers managing the provisioning and service of
electronic wallets in the mobile handsets
–  ViVOwallet electronic wallets in the handsets.
–  And ViVOpay NFC readers at merchants throughout UAE.

“We are delighted to be the end-to-end technology provider of this first NFC mobile payment pilot in the Middle East region,” said Michael Mullagh, ViVOtech CEO. “With this initiative, du and Dubai First are laying the foundation of bringing empowerment to consumers in the UAE with the most innovative and contemporary method for business transaction via mobile-commerce.”

To date, ViVOtech has enabled more than 35 NFC phone pilots globally. ViVOtech’s NFC mobile payments, promotions, Over-The-Air (OTA) provisioning infrastructure software, transaction management software, NFC smart posters and contactless terminals are part of the company’s end-to-end solutions that complement and complete mobile e-commerce networks and their ecosystems.

ViVOtech (www.vivotech.com) is the leading end-to-end enabler of next generation mobile payments, loyalty, and marketing solutions. ViVOtech provides Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile payment solutions, mobile marketing and loyalty applications software, Over-The-Air (OTA) provisioning infrastructure software, NFC smart posters, and contactless terminals. ViVOtech’s products are used by most prominent retailers all over the globe; the company has shipped close to 600,000 contactless and NFC payment terminals to more than 35 countries. In 2009, ViVOtech received the prestigious Frost and Sullivan North American Smart Cards Product Line Strategy of the Year Award. ViVOtech’s investors include Citi, First Data Corporation, Motorola Ventures, NCR, and Nokia Growth Partners.

7.2 HSPA-capable Smartphone from AT&T and LG Mobile Phones Packs a Powerful Punch, Features Optional Mobile Projector

AT&T and LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A., Inc., announced the LG eXpo will be available online beginning December 7. Featuring the first 1 GHz processor in the United States, the LG eXpo allows business professionals to meet their demanding data sharing needs while on the go. Available exclusively for AT&T customers, the handset will be compatible with AT&T’s High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2 Mbps technology, which provides a considerable speed boost to the nation’s fastest 3G network.

The LG eXpo is the first device in North America to support an optional integrated pico projector. The LG Mobile Projector snaps onto the back of the device and allows users to share presentations, slideshows and even online videos straight from their mobile phone. Weighing only 1.8 ounces and small enough to fit into the palm of your hand, the LG mobile projector provides users with powerful new technology in a compact design, featuring a projection distance as far as eight feet

“LG eXpo adds to our growing portfolio of smartphones that operate on the latest upgrade to our 3G network and offer customers a great choice,” said Michael Woodward, vice president, Mobile Phone Portfolio, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “As we move to HSPA 7.2 technology, it is crucial to provide our customers innovative and future-proof smartphones.”

With the upgrade to HSPA 7.2 technology, AT&T continues its investments to deliver the nation’s fastest 3G network. AT&T plans to deploy HSPA 7.2 initially in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Miami by the end of the year. The company plans to deploy HSPA 7.2 in 25 of the nation’s 30 largest markets by the end of 2010, and to reach about 90 percent of its existing 3G network footprint with HSPA 7.2 by the end of 2011.

LG eXpo also eliminates the need for pin codes and passwords with the exclusive “Smart Sensor” fingerprint recognition from AuthenTec, which delivers a new level of added smart and personal security unlike any other mobile phone in the market. AT&T is the first to offer U.S. subscribers a smartphone that leverages the features and functions of a smart sensor. The Smart Sensor complements the touchscreen user interface of the eXpo by also providing precise cursor control for text editing, 4-way menu navigation, and AuthenTec’s unique turbo-scroll feature for rapid browsing of long emails, contact lists or websites.

The LG eXpo is loaded with Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional to help power users stay more connected with email, calendar and Microsoft Office Mobile. The phone’s projection feature allows users to display Web pages, documents, photos and videos on the go.

“LG eXpo is the perfect balance of mobile innovation and design,” said Ehtisham Rabbani, vice president of product strategy and marketing for LG Mobile Phones. “Enabling users to meet their professional and personal computing needs from the palm of their hands, LG eXpo makes on-the-go communication an effortless luxury.”

Boasting a 3.2-inch external touchscreen with 16M color, LG eXpo features a sophisticated slider design with a full size QWERTY keypad. For the dynamic multi-tasker, LG eXpo provides users with powerful functionality that supports an RSS Viewer, Podcast and aGPS. In addition to a crystal clear 5.0 megapixel camera with built-in auto flash, LG eXpo can support up to a 16GB removable microSD memory card for premium music and photo storage.

Beginning December 7, LG eXpo will be available to enterprise customers and for purchase online at www.att.com/lgexpo for $199.99 after mail-in rebate. Pay $299.99 and after mail-in rebate receive a $100 AT&T Promotion Card. Two year agreement on a minimum $69.99 plan required. The LG Mobile Projector will be available in the coming weeks for $179.99.

Ayalogic announced the public beta availability of imVOX, a new voice communication service designed to broaden the use of voice in games. The free imVOX service allows up to 30 gamers to join a voice chat for free. imVOX runs in the background while a user plays a multiplayer game like Modern Warfare 2 or World of Warcraft to provide users with better communication with teammates. Premium services are available for $24.99 USD per year, and provide users with the ability to connect up to 250 users to a single server and expanded in-client features such as text-to-voice and a customizable client.

The imVOX software is currently available on Microsoft’s Windows XP, Vista and 7 and runs directly on your computer. Support for OS X is in the works. Additionally, social networking features and integration are currently in development, with login via Facebook Connect and Twitter integration available soon.

Ayalogic’s CEO Mike Rojas says, “We want to make it easier to enable gamers to connect with voice. There will be no more begging a friend to leverage their voice server to have a little extra fun in whatever game you want to play.”

The imVOX network of servers is set up on Amazon’s Web Services platform, utilizing EC2 for the main servers and S3 for backup and persistent storage– a first in the consumer game voice market. This solution allows for a low cost, redundant, scalable and cost effective infrastructure that passes its benefits for reliability and price directly to the gamer.

By providing not only the servers and technology for imVOX, but also the user client, Ayalogic is able to provide a smoother experience than existing solutions at a significantly reduced price – Free.

“Our architecture and technology will allow us to bring rapid innovation around communication services to the gaming market. The time has come to bring together to merge the benefits of embedded voice and dedicated gaming voice clients into a single solution,” says Mike Rojas.

Gamers can get started by downloading the free imVOX software at http://imvox.com/.

imVOX was created by Ayalogic to revolutionize communication in gaming. Ayalogic was founded in 2002 and is backed by Draper Triangle Ventures, Early Stage Partners, and JumpStart, Inc. Ayalogic also runs the Green-Ear network, and has been providing integrated voice services to indie game developers since 2008. For more information on imVOX visit http://imvox.com/.

Strategic Partnerships and Customer-Focused Investments Drive Business Performance

Cable&Wireless Worldwide, a market leader in delivering business critical communications globally, is building its infrastructure services capabilities and strengthening its partnership agreements in China, to continue its significant growth in the region.

During the past year, the company has consolidated and expanded its partnership with China Telecom and China Unicom. Cable&Wireless has a world- class network connecting China to the rest of Asia Pacific, Europe and the United States. The Company’s partnership with China Unicom enables it to utilise three Points-of-Presence (PoPs) in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Cable&Wireless also has two network-to-network interface (NNI) agreements with China Telecom that enable it to connect customers throughout the country.

Since 2008, Cable&Wireless has increased its network capacity and rolled out its next-generation Multi-Service Platform (MSP) infrastructure in China. The MSP across China, is fully integrated with Cable&Wireless’ global MSP and core director network. The company has also invested in a Global Customer Front Office in Hong Kong delivering 24×7 Mandarin and Japanese language support enabling comprehensive fault finding and resolution for customers across North Asia.

During the last six months, Cable&Wireless has grown its business in China with customers such as Huawei, Infoplex, Marks&Spencer and Tesco. The performance in the China market has contributed to Cable&Wireless driving a top-line business growth rate of more than 40% in Asia Pacific in FY 2008-09.

Nick Lambert, Managing Director – Global Markets, Cable&Wireless Worldwide said, “We’ve been investing for growth throughout Asia for the past few years. Having a strong presence in China is integral to our vision to deliver business critical communications to our customers across the world. By partnering with both of the leading telecom players in this market – China Telecom and China Unicom – we are able to give our customers the best solution in China to meet their business needs in the fastest growing market in the world.”

Cable&Wireless has a long history in China that dates back to 1871 when John Pender, the founder of Cable&Wireless, formed the China Submarine Telegraph Company to lay a 1700-mile cable between Singapore and Hong Kong. China remains a key focus for Cable&Wireless and the company has now invested in two offices – in Beijing and Shanghai – to manage customer and partner engagements out of China.

Cable and Wireless plc is one of the world’s leading international communications companies. It operates through two standalone business units – Worldwide and CWI.

The Worldwide business specialises in offering high quality communications services such as IP, data, voice and hosting to large enterprise, reseller and carrier customers. It operates globally, with core markets in UK, Asia and EMEA, and provides connectivity in 153 countries.

CWI is an owner and operator of market-leading regional telecoms businesses. Headquartered in London, it operates through four regional business units – the Caribbean, Panama, Macau and Monaco & Islands. It is a full-service telecommunications provider offering mobile, broadband, domestic and international fixed line services, as well as enterprise and managed service telecom solutions.

Tata Communications, a leading provider of a new world of communications, today announced that it has received the Best Global Wholesale Offering Award from Capacity magazine. This prestigious accolade from Capacity magazine, one of the most important publications for telecommunications carriers and service providers, testifies to Tata Communications’ leadership in the development and implementation of its wholesale strategy.

The judging panel comprising senior Capacity editorial staff as well as a range of senior industry analysts recognized Tata Communications’ pole position in the wholesale business, which is anchored by a globe-spanning network of submarine and terrestrial cables with over 300 PoPs, and reaching to over 240 countries and territories.

Capacity magazine’s Global Wholesale Telecommunications Awards recognise the achievements of leading players in the wholesale telecoms industry. The awards were announced on Nov 23 at the Capacity Europe 2009 event in Amsterdam, at a reception attended by over 400 senior industry executives.

“Tata Communications impressed in all the judging categories for the award from its solutions approach, quality and performance of the network, reach, speed to market, pricing strategy as well as investment in their network,” said Matthew Whalley, editor of Capacity magazine. “The company has shown itself to be a leader in voice communications and active in looking at new services and propositions across the wholesale market”.

The Tata Communications wholesale business services more than 1,600 carrier customers, 480 direct connect relationships, 785 mobile operators and 700 VoIP providers with a wide portfolio of innovative solutions to address the specific needs of each segment of our industry – mobile operators, broadband providers, new portal players, retail service providers and wholesale carriers worldwide.

Earlier in June, Tata Communications was also made BT’s primary voice supplier of International Direct Dial outside of BT’s footprint countries – exemplifying Tata Communications’ ability to meet service providers’ global communication needs and help them focus on their core business while gaining large economies of scale.

Other achievements that helped Tata Communications win the award included its completion of the Tata Global Network Intra-Asia (TGN-IA) cable which provides route diversity in Asia and increased capacity to the Philippines and Vietnam, and its role in the launch of the SEACOM cable, the first to provide connectivity down the East coast of Africa. Tata Communications also deployed a global Sonus-based next-generation network, launched portability-corrected routing to 12 of the largest and most popular destinations, and rolled out the industry’s first global wholesale carrier-offered voice peering service.

“This year’s award is a timely recognition for Tata Communications’ suite of wholesale solution offerings which is backed by the industry most advanced voice routing systems, a Tier-1 IP backbone and our very own TGN cable system that assures high redundancy, solid resilience and low latency,” said Michel Guyot, President, Global Voice Solutions, Tata Communications “Our strategy and our investment in developing industry leading wholesale solutions have translated into valuable expertise and substantial cost savings for our customers.”

Tata Communications is a leading global provider of a new world of communications. With a leadership position in emerging markets, Tata Communications leverages its advanced solutions capabilities and domain expertise across its global and pan-India network to deliver managed solutions to multi-national enterprises, service providers and Indian consumers.

The Tata Global Network includes one of the most advanced and largest submarine cable networks, a Tier-1 IP network, with connectivity to more than 200 countries across 400 PoPs, and nearly 1 million square feet of data center and collocation space worldwide.

Tata Communications’ depth and breadth of reach in emerging markets includes leadership in Indian enterprise data services, leadership in global international voice, and strategic investments in operators in South Africa (Neotel), Sri Lanka (Tata Communications Lanka Limited), Nepal (United Telecom Limited), and subject to approval by the Chinese government, China (China Enterprise Communications).

Companies Will Jointly Offer Businesses M5 Networks’ Hosted VoIP Phone Systems That Can Connect Workers, Enhance CRM, Improve Customer Service and More

M5 Networks, Inc., a leading provider of hosted VoIP phone systems, and Alteritech®, an IT infrastructure consulting and managed services company, announced a business partnership that will make M5 Networks’ advanced, integrated VoIP business communications solutions available to current and future Alteritech clients. Through the partnership, Alteritech further extends its reputation as the preferred one-stop resource for a full spectrum of managed IT services.

Alteritech, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Acumen Solutions, focuses on the needs of law firms, associations, real estate industry enterprises and other mid-market businesses. The Vienna, Virginia-based company has emerged as a leader in its market segment by providing consistent and professional IT assessments and security analysis, IT enhancements, hosting and outsourced support for IT infrastructure including servers and hardware, networking equipment and desktops.

With the addition of M5 Networks’ VoIP-based communications services and expertise, Alteritech gains its first offering in the fast-growing business VoIP space. M5 Networks is highly regarded nationally for its rich array of VoIP offerings. Serving local, national and international customers, the firm is uniquely able to not only host a customer’s VoIP telephony platform, but also integrate VoIP with a company’s sales, staffing, marketing and IT infrastructure, thereby leveraging call data for maximum tactical advantage.

“VoIP, as implemented by M5 Networks, is an amazingly powerful tool for business, delivering cost efficiencies, operational flexibility, and strategic value,” said Chad Gagnon, Managing Director of Business Development of Alteritech. “We believe the addition of M5 Networks will be of immense benefit, both for Alteritech and for our clients who seek to bring their telecommunications infrastructure into the 21st century.”

“Of all the many kinds of businesses that can benefit from VoIP-based telephony, Alteritech’s class of customer are most likely to be at the top of the list,” said David Beagle, M5 Networks Director of Partner Operations. “Midsized firms are forced to compete daily against larger companies with greater resources. With VoIP, these firms can lower their monthly telecommunications investment while benefitting from advanced capabilities like Direct Inbound Dialing tracking, quality call analysis and automatic CRM logging. We look forward to working with Alteritech to bring the power of VoIP to growing businesses everywhere.”

Alteritech and M5 Networks recently closed their first sale together, serving an investment firm in New York. To learn more about Alteritech’s IT consulting and managed services, log on to www.alteritech.com. Additional information about M5 Network’s range of hosted VoIP business services can be found at www.m5net.com.

M5 Networks provides Voice-over-IP managed phone systems delivered as a disaster-proof service. M5’s delivery model facilitates the rapid deployment of advanced phone system functionality and features that drive a consistent voice experience as businesses elevate service levels and employees become increasingly dispersed. M5’s pay-per-profile pricing model offers companies a low cost-of-entry to feature sets that traditionally have required large capital expenditure and dedicated IT resources. By leveraging M5’s network infrastructure, customers have a voice platform that frees all voice-related data and commands to mash with other applications. The result is a competitive edge for driving business intelligence, improving customer service, and enhancing enterprise application effectiveness. M5 has numerous industry awards and recognitions and is headquartered in New York City. To learn more about M5, visit www.m5net.com.

Alteritech solves IT problems for small and medium sized enterprises by providing assessments and security analysis, IT enhancements, hosting and outsourced support for IT infrastructure including servers, hardware and software, networking equipment, and desktops. With offices in Vienna, Virginia and New York City, Alteritech is a wholly owned subsidiary of Acumen Solutions. Alteritech has a long and proven track record of successfully delivering maximum quality to their law firm, association, real estate enterprise and other small to medium sized business clients.

Commercial Launch to begin in Delhi with a projected target of 500,000 Subscribers

TCM MOBILE has entered into a definitive agreement to license its patented telecommunication technology to an Indian Joint Venture which plans to launch the world’s first commercial Cellular VoIP operating network in India. The new company is a joint venture partnership between GANTON India Private Limited (www.ganton.in) and several Indian and International partners, including an investor group from TCM MOBILE.

The joint venture will commit several million US dollars to deploy and operate the network, and is currently securing substantial credit lines for the purchase of all related equipment. The projected capital expenditure is US $300 million. The network will target service for 500,000 subscribers with capacity to expand into millions of subscribers in other cities as per rollout plans. Mr. Sanjiv Kapoor, currently CEO of GANTON India Private Limited and a veteran telecommunication executive instrumental in launching various technology projects over the years throughout India, has been appointed CEO of the joint venture company.

The total network build-out will be deployed in stages over a 3 year period. It will include 5,000 site locations providing an initial coverage area of a significant portion of Delhi and the National Capital Region of Delhi. This will be followed by category “A” and “B” Indian Cities to ultimately yield an entire pan-India footprint with a targeted subscriber base of 100 million subscribers

“The Indian Market offers an immense opportunity not only for generating revenue for our organization, but also offers significant value additions in terms of image enhancement of the existing service providers,” said Mr. Kapoor. “The launch of our revolutionary network will contribute greatly towards the GDP growth of India, in line with our National Telecom Policy’s key objectives. This forward looking, technically advanced network will help create an international image in the eyes of various investors worldwide for the Indian market,” continued Mr. Kapoor.

GANTON India Private Limited is a subsidiary of GANTON Limited, a multinational technology & investments company with presence in India, UK, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania and Hong Kong, headquartered in New York, with a group net worth in excess of US $500 million dollars.

TCM MOBILE LLC is a US based technology company which has developed a revolutionary, patented Cellular VoIP technology delivering all forms of mobile telecommunication services such as Voice, Data, Video and Location-Based Advertising (”Pop Up” format) and pinpoint location functionality, via one mobile device.

As part of the joint venture, Chinese telecom equipment supplier ZTE Corporation will expand upon its supplier relationship with GANTON and is keen to provide related equipment for the build-out and deployment of the operating network. ZTE Corporation employs approximately 50,000 people worldwide, with revenues exceeding US $8 billion dollars. It has established commercial partnerships with over 500 operators in Asia Pacific, South Asia, North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The Indian joint venture project hopes to contribute to India’s targeted Cellular subscriber goal of 900 Million by the year 2012, increasing the Indian consumer’s overall confidence in its service providers along the way.

In France, the Tooway service offers a consumer broadband solution at speeds and prices meeting the “Digital France 2012″ Plan. Operating totally independently from terrestrial networks, the service enables users to establish a high-speed Internet connection using a 67cm antenna and a modem that interfaces with a user’s PC.

Designed to serve homes in metropolitan France located in grey areas, SFR’s ‘Satellite Internet Pack’ is available in two packages: either a package with a specified subscription period from 34.90EUR a month including satellite kit, or a package with no commitment to a specific subscription period from 29.90EUR a month (plus 399EUR for the satellite kit).

The service offers download speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps and between 2.4 and 4.7 GB of data downloads per month depending on subscription. An “Endless Night” option also enables users to surf the Internet on an unlimited basis between 11 pm and 7 am with no data exchange deducted from the monthly total volume. Additional services include six mailbox addresses, antivirus software and anti-spam protection. The satellite kit comes with a DVD and installation guide as well as a satellite finder and a set of cables for self-installation. For customers preferring a professional installation SFR also provides a list of approved installers.

Launched in Europe in 2007, Tooway is based on Eutelsat’s satellite coverage, the commercial and infrastructure operating experience of its Skylogic subsidiary and SurfBeam technology developed by ViaSat. This technology used by Tooway comes to Europe after acquiring extensive experience on the North American market, where ViaSat already provides the equipment and network for over 500,000 homes.

Commenting on the signature with SFR, Michel de Rosen, Eutelsat CEO said: “The selection of our new Tooway broadband service by SFR, a hallmark in telecommunications for quality service and reliability, underscores the intrinsic ability of satellite technologies to complement terrestrial networks.

“This major contract also clearly demonstrates the ability of Tooway to deliver a comparable service to terrestrial broadband networks, with ease of use and high levels of scalability that can accompany growth. It consolidates our objective for large-scale development of satellite broadband in the Ka-band using dedicated in-orbit and ground infrastructure offering both compelling prices and speeds to consumers.

“Combined with the advanced performance of the SurfBeam technology developed by ViaSat, the multi-spot KA-SAT satellite that is currently in construction by EADS Astrium will have the capacity to deliver high-speed performance to up to two million subscribers.”

New TGN-Gulf Cable System Will Connect the Region Directly to India and to the Rest of the World

Tata Communications, a leading provider of a new world of communications, as part of its strategic intent to participate and assist in the rapid development of the Middle East Region, has signed strategic partnership agreements with several of the major telecommunications Operators in the Middle East to construct a new cable system into the Gulf. The new cable will connect the Region directly to the world’s major business hubs and city centres via Tata’s Global Network (the TGN).

The partners, Bahrain Internet Exchange in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Nawras of Oman, Qatar Telecom of Qatar, Mobily of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates will each be the exclusive landing party for the TGN Gulf Cable System in their respective geography. The cable and the relationships with the landing parties will be further developed to provide an extended portfolio of value added services for local and global enterprise customers who are very active in this rapidly expanding emerging market.

Vinod Kumar, President and COO of Tata Communications, said: “This partnership with the top operators in the Middle East to build the TGN Gulf Cable System underscores our aspirations to be a key player in the emerging markets space. Each of these partnerships will create mutual benefits that will multiply steadily as companies in the Middle East expand out to the rest of the world and as global MNCs seek connectivity to expand their operations to this fast growing region.”

The TGN-Gulf Cable System and its associated worldwide reach provide new dimensions to the infrastructure and unique service capabilities for each of the partners. Using their own cable station, each party will have access to a new high-speed route to the globe and bring in much needed resilience and diversity to the infrastructure in each country. This capacity will enable the expansion in broadband penetration, Internet usage and enterprise applications in each market.

Mr. Mohamed Al-Thawadi the Executive Director of Bahrain Internet Exchange (BIX) said “BIX has been providing services to the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) since 2005 with the objectives of ensuring high speed at low costs. This new submarine cable system represents a significant telecommunications infrastructure investment for BIX and will cater for the high-speed and broadband international connectivity requirements for enterprises based in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It allows for the fast and cost effective provisioning of capacity from the Kingdom of Bahrain to the world’s major business hubs and city centres. By providing an additional cable system through the TGN-Gulf, BIX will enable much needed capacity growth to maintain the unprecedented expansion in data, Internet and media traffic usage as well as improving physical diversity and overall connectivity out of the Kingdom of Bahrain. BIX also foresees a huge reduction in prices as compared to the current situation, which will be beneficial to all the users of the Internet.”

Nawras Chief Executive Officer, Ross Cormack, said, “Nawras combines great value and pleasingly different service to consistently deliver the highest levels of customer-friendly communication services for customers. This is why we choose to work with the most experienced partners and those recognized for being leading global providers of communication delivery solutions. In cementing this agreement with TATA, we are really enthusiastic to be building our own international connection to the rest of the world to provide Nawras customers with the quality of international service and value added services which they rightly demand.

Mr. Ahmed Derbesti (Executive Director International Services) of Qtel Q.S.C. “Qtel is delighted to announce this agreement with TATA, which will bring a new global, and much needed resilient, submarine cable to Qatar. The enhanced capacity provided by this cabling solution will help ensure rapid growth of Broadband Services across Qatar. We are also proud to be representing Qatar as part of this major alliance, which commits to deliver efficient International telecom services to the people of the Gulf.”

Mr. Abdulaziz Al-Tamami, COO of Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia said that the partnership agreement is in line with Mobily’s plans to provide global connectivity and reach and high bandwidth for the company’s data arm Bayanat Al-Oula, providing high quality data and voice services that will boost the Kingdom’s information-driven business sector. He also noted that TGN will complement Mobily’s existing Fiber Optic Network that links the Kingdom’s regions and neighboring countries and be able to leverage such connectivity and reach to serve the national, regional and international clients. “Mobily is delighted to partner Tata Communications and tap on one of the world’s largest submarine cable networks that complement Mobily’s existing regional infrastructure. The deal will enhance connectivity and services between Mobily’s customers in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world,” Al-Tamami said.

Mr. Ali Amiri, EVP – Carrier & Wholesale Services of Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (ETISALAT) said, “Partnering with Tata Communications to increase the region’s resiliency, connectivity and capacity through a new cable to India and the rest of the world is a strategic move which will benefit everyone. This new cable, with it’s dual UAE landings, will provide additional resiliency and diversity to our global connectivity solutions. Needless to say, the UAE economy as well as those in neighboring markets who choose to be connected through TGN-Gulf cable will tremendously benefit from Etisalat’s diversified connectivity and extended reach.”

Radwan Moussalli, Tata Communications’ Managing Director for Middle East and North Africa (MENA), said: “The TGN Gulf cable system will be added to the global network that Tata Communications already owns and operates. We are delighted to be in partnership with such progressive and committed companies to achieve this milestone to our global network. The benefit derived from such partnerships will in turn benefit the Middle East region – allowing the already progressive region to grow by leaps and bounds. This step reiterates our commitment to the Middle East region.”

The state-of-the-art cable system will connect the region to the rest of the world via Tata’s Global Network ensuring reliable high speed bandwidth for the region.

Tata Communications is a leading global provider of a new world of communications. With a leadership position in emerging markets, Tata Communications leverages its advanced solutions capabilities and domain expertise across its global and pan-India network to deliver managed solutions to multi-national enterprises, service providers and Indian consumers.

The Tata Global Network includes one of the most advanced and largest submarine cable networks, a Tier-1 IP network, with connectivity to more than 200 countries across 400 PoPs, and nearly 1 million square feet of data center and collocation space worldwide.

Tata Communications’ depth and breadth of reach in emerging markets includes leadership in Indian enterprise data services, leadership in global international voice, and strategic investments in operators in South Africa (Neotel), Sri Lanka (Tata Communications Lanka Limited), Nepal (United Telecom Limited), and subject to approval by the Chinese government, China (China Enterprise Communications).

Tata Communications Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India and its ADRs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

IBM announced the opening of telecommunications development centers to help Communication Service Providers (CSPs) create new business models while improving the customer experience and operational efficiencies. Located in China, South Africa and Malaysia, the centers provide a broad array of advanced technical skills and specialized offerings.

IBM also announced a dedicated center in France for solutions based on products and services from Comverse, a leading supplier of software and systems for the telecom industry.

Drawing on IBM’s globally-integrated network of capabilities and partnerships, the centers offer a range of new telecommunications software solutions based on IBM’s Service Provider Delivery Environment (SPDE) 3.0 framework, as well as hardware, services and business partner applications. Clients will include telecommunication operators, network equipment suppliers, independent software vendors (ISVs) and extended service providers.

“To sustain growth in today’s economy, service providers are seeking ways to offer subscribers a more positive and differentiated user experience while reducing complexity and cost,” said Scott Stainken, general manager for IBM’s telecommunications industry. “IBM’s specialized global centers and labs offer the telco industry an unparalleled level of expertise and support to speed implementation and facilitate more effective use of applications and technologies.”

Comverse Center of Excellence

IBM’s new Comverse Center of Excellence (CoE) has been established within the IBM Telecom Solutions Lab in France. Its goal is to reduce risk and speed time-to-value of telecom solutions. The CoE creates a BSS/OSS (Business Support System/Operational Support System) and Service-Delivery environment using software components from IBM and Comverse that allow clients to test proofs of concept. IBM server and storage hardware, including Power Systems and BladeCenter, provide the dynamic infrastructure foundation for the CoE.

“IBM understands how critical it is to offer systems and processes that support the new business models that operators must deliver to stay competitive,” said Dror Bin, President of Global Sales at Comverse. “We believe that the Comverse-IBM relationship backed by the Center of Excellence will enable them to develop new business models that will lead to more efficient operations and generate new revenues.”

China Telecommunications Solutions Center

Located in IBM’s China Development Labs, the IBM Telecommunication Solutions Center (TSC) has been established to accelerate solution development and streamline product delivery.

Recently, China Mobile Communications Corporation has been working closely with experts at the China TSC to deploy a platform — based on IBM Service Delivery Platform, Data Warehouse and Cognos Business Intelligence — that supports service creation, deployment, execution, integration and management. As a result, China Mobile is able to reduce time-to-market for new products, increase revenue and improve customer service with end-to-end monitoring and analysis.

South Africa Telecom Solutions Lab

IBM’s main Telecom Solutions Lab (TSL) in Sub-Sahara Africa is located in Johannesburg, but clients will also be able to access IBM solution demonstrations from three additional satellite locations in Africa: (Nairobi, Lagos and Cape Town).

The South African TSL features a “proof of concept” solution called “The Enterprise Applications for IMS + SDP for Mobile Healthcare” which is aimed at improving doctor’s productivity and delivery of healthcare services using a wireless infrastructure. This solution allows onsite medical resources (general practitioners, clinic staff) to have immediate access to remote specialists. These specialists would be able access a patient’s information in real time to enable rapid diagnosis and remedial action without the need for an in-person examination. For CSPs this solution demonstrates ways to quickly adapt a solution for new business opportunities in adjacent markets.

ASEAN Telecom Center of Excellence

IBM is opening an ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Telecom Center of Excellence (CoE) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to support CSPs in this diverse and challenging region. CSPs in ASEAN are faced with the requirement to innovate and invest in new services while simultaneously grappling with challenges from mobile number portability, decreased roaming revenue and competition from next generation broadband networks. IBM’s goal in this region is to help CSPs improve customer life cycle management through business intelligence, analytics and service delivery platforms while reducing cost through increased infrastructure and operational efficiencies.

For more information on IBM telecom offerings visit: www.ibm.com/telecom

The application has launched today and for £6 a month people can access the Sky Sports bundle – which includes access to Sky News, the Sky Sports channels and the ESPN channels live on their handset or iPod Touch for the first time.

The Sky TV app is free to download initially and allows users to stream TV via WiFi and not 3G at this stage. It is understood this is because of restrictions from O2. It will be available to all iPhone owners, regardless of what mobile network they are signed to, including Orange, which begins selling the handset today.

Subscribers to the app will have access to live televised matches from the Barclays Premier League, Scottish Premier League and Football League, and other sport tournaments such as the European Tour golf, Premiership rugby and international and domestic cricket.

Full story at telegraph.co.uk.

“This is a major milestone in the expansion of our distribution network for SteelWorks,” said Brian Hajost, SteelCloud President and CEO. “We believe that Ingram Micro has the largest presence in the VAR and reseller community and is a crucial alliance for the broad-based commercial availability of SteelWorks. This new agreement will significantly enhance SteelCloud’s distribution and market presence for SteelWorks. We are delighted to have been able to accomplish this significant expansion in our distribution footprint in such a short period of time.”

In September, the Company began shipments of its new SteelWorks appliances for the BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0, which were manufactured under its OEM agreement with Dell announced earlier this summer.

SteelCloud is a developer and integrator of mobility computing appliance solutions. The Company designs, architects and develops specialized appliance solutions for mobile computing technologies including BlackBerry Enterprise Server. For both commercial and government markets, SteelCloud delivers integrated hardware/software appliance solutions that focus on ease of deployment, policy compliance, and high availability.

Over its 20-year history, SteelCloud has won numerous awards for technical excellence and customer satisfaction. The Company can be reached at (703) 674 5500. Additional information is available at www.steelcloud.com. Email: info@steelcloud.com.

As a vital link in the technology value chain, Ingram Micro creates sales and profitability opportunities for vendors and resellers through unique marketing programs, outsourced logistics services, technical support, financial services, and product aggregation and distribution. The company serves 140 countries and is the only broadline global IT distributor with operations in Asia. Visit www.ingrammicro.com.

Global Marketing Partners is a Channel Solutions Reseller providing customized vendor consolidation and marketing services to North America’s largest national IT distributors and resellers. For more information, please go to www.globalwrx.com.

The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images, and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.

“Safe Harbor” statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations and assumptions contained in the foregoing are forward looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. It is possible that the assumptions made by management are not necessarily the most likely and may not materialize.

In addition, other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include the following: SteelCloud’s ability to obtain financing in the short term, risks associated with the integration of business following an acquisition, business conditions and the amount of growth in the computer industry and general economy; competitive factors; ability to attract and retain personnel, including key sales and management personnel; the price of SteelCloud’s stock; and the risk factors set forth from time to time in SteelCloud’s SEC reports, including but not limited to its Annual Report on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-Q; and Current Reports on Form 8K. SteelCloud takes no obligation to update or correct forward-looking statements.

By Joe McDonald

Apple’s iPhone is making its long-awaited formal debut in the world’s most populous mobile phone market, without a key feature and at higher prices than widely available black market models.

Apple’s local service provider, China Unicom Ltd., hopes the iPhone will give it an edge against giant rival China Mobile Ltd., the world’s biggest phone company by subscribers.

Unicom was to start selling iPhones equipped for third-generation service Friday night at 2,000 stores in areas as farflung as Tibet. Chinese news reports say Unicom hopes to sell 5 million in three years, but the company declined to confirm that.

Unicom’s first iPhones lack WiFi, a possible handicap with sophisticated, demanding Chinese buyers. The technology, a key part of the iPhone’s appeal, allows the phones in other markets to use wireless networks in cafes and offices to download e-mail and the latest applications for free.

“There’s going to be a perception that the phone they have is dumbed down from the one that somebody has in California,” said Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China Ltd., a Beijing-based technology research firm. “We’ve seen before that Chinese consumers don’t like to be treated like second-class citizens.”

Apple Inc. and Unicom also could face competition from an unusual source: unlocked iPhones brought in from abroad that have WiFi.

There are already an estimated 1.5 million to 2 million such phones in China using China Mobile 3G service that allows Internet access and other features.

Unicom’s prices range from 4,999 yuan ($730) to 6,999 yuan ($1,025) for the high-end, 32-gigabyte iPhone 3GS. That is 20 percent above the 5,700 yuan ($835) charged by merchants at Chinese street markets for a 3GS with WiFi.

Click here to read full story.

Meticulously researched, “The Tangled Web Of Patent #174465″ is a story of fraud, collusions, perjury, corruption, bribery and industrial espionage. Employing careful analysis of hundreds of documents, including thousands of pages of sworn testimony before a Congressional investigations committee, Pizer argues that Bell himself was a party to “what might be considered one of America’s most far-reaching historical deceptions”.

“The Tangled Web Of Patent #174465″ points to Bell’s father-in-law, Gardiner Greene Hubbard, as the actual culprit in this historical subterfuge, although Bell certainly was complicit in his actions. Pizer writes:

It will be seen that throughout the early years of the telephone,
A.G. Bell gave different stories about events that surrounded the
invention and issuance of a patent of what became — only via legal
subterfuge — the invention of the telephone. These different stories
cast grave doubts about A.G. Bell’s honesty and that of his father-in-
law, who reaped millions of dollars in profits through what became
the Bell telephone monopoly.

With its unwavering and persuasive arguments based upon solid research, “The Tangled Web Of Patent #174465″ is sure to spark discussion among students and historians everywhere.

Russell A. Pizer holds two degrees in music from the University of Michigan. He is also the author of “Administrating the Elementary Band” (1971), “How to Improve the High School Band Sound” (1976), “Instrumental Music Evaluation Kit – Forms and Procedures for Assessing Student Performance” (1987) and “Evaluation Programs for School Bands and Orchestras” (1990, all published by Parker Publishing).

In 1993, Pizer gave a series of lectures for the Association for Research in Telecommunications History (ARTH) during their annual meetings and was subsequently elected president of ARTH. Now retired, Pizer is also the vice president of the Volusia/Falgler Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

While many trends identified last year are reinforced by this year’s survey, one of most notable differences is that service bundling is becoming a real competitive advantage for telcos.

“Service bundling has long been an inherent capability of telcos, and it appears that effective marketing strategies, combined with pricing, improved customer service, and faster and more reliable service is really becoming the boon telcos need to stay competitive,” says Kishore.

Another highlight of the 2009 survey is consumer adoption of over-the-top video, with insight into its market disruption potential.

The new study also analyzes changes in consumers’ thinking, helping companies across the IPTV value chain identify current market trends and consumer attitudes enabling more targeted, cost-effective marketing programs and service offerings.

As with last year’s study, the new research emphasizes consumer perceptions of telco TV service providers and their newest consumer video services offerings. Video service providers can glean insights into the services required to gain new subscribers and keep existing ones in the increasingly competitive market and sluggish economy. As the nation continues to face poor economic conditions, Kishore’s presentation of study findings will show how these conditions affect the pay TV business. In addition, the study covers the following key issues:

> Current pay TV subscriptions, length of tenure, and selected providers
(cable, satellite, telco)
> Primary decision drivers for selecting current pay TV providers
> Churn drivers and reasons for leaving previous providers
> Satisfaction levels with current services across various criteria such
as price, channel choices, dependability, and customer care
> Interest in advanced services such as DVR, VoD, interactive TV, and
HDTV
> Multiservice bundling, plans to change providers, and likelihood of
selecting a telco for TV service
> Internet video preferences

TelcoTV provides a comprehensive overview of the changing telecom video landscape, with presentations delivering meaningful insight into, and analysis of, the evolving world of entertainment convergence, plus more than 100 exhibitors showcasing the latest solutions and products for the IPTV and video markets. It is a joint production of Techweb and NTCA. This year’s event will be held November 10-12, 2009 at the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Fla. For further details visit: http://www.telcotvonline.com/.

Founded in 2000, Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) is the leading online media, research, and focused event company serving the $3 trillion worldwide communications market. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for technology and financial analysis of the communications industry, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation.

Light Reading’s research arms, Heavy Reading and Pyramid Research, provide the most comprehensive communications research, market data, and technology analysis in close to 100 markets around the world. Light Reading produces almost 20 targeted communications events including TelcoTV, Ethernet Expo New York and Ethernet Expo London, The Tower Summit@CTIA, and Optical Expo, as well as focused one-day events tailored for cable, mobile, and wireline executives. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005, and operates as a unit of TechWeb.

TechWeb (www.techweb.com/aboutus) the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million* business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created around our global face-to-face events Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat, and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, Wall Street & Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services ranging from next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.

United Business Media Limited (UBM) is a global media and marketing services company that informs markets and brings the world’s buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print, and with the information they need to do business successfully. UBM serves professional and commercial communities, from IT professionals to doctors, from journalists to jewelry dealers, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. UBM employs more than 6,500 people in more than 30 countries. UBM’s businesses operating in the US include CMPMedica, Commonwealth Business Media, Everything Channel, PR Newswire, RISI, TechInsights, TechWeb and Think Services. UBM is listed on the London Stock Exchange (UBM.L) and has a market capitalization of $1.6 billion.

The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association is the premier association representing more than 580 locally owned and managed telecommunications cooperatives and commercial companies throughout rural America. NTCA provides its members with legislative, regulatory, and industry representation; meetings; publications and educational programs; and an array of employee benefit programs. Visit us at www.ntca.org.

BT has introduced a service that will allow remote employees to access corporate VPNs over the public internet.

The Hybrid VPN service, which is available in 130 countries, can be introduced across a business’s international locations quickly, as it uses the public internet, according to BT. It could also allow organisations to provide VPN access to employees in places too distant or too expensive to be covered by their private VPN.

“When you get outside big cities in places like America, Australia or Africa, connectivity becomes incredibly expensive, and Hybrid VPN will be significantly cheaper than the alternatives,” said James Moore, head of marketing with BT Optical and Ethernet Services.

The service could mean that companies do not have to maintain several contracts with ISPs across a number of countries. BT also expects the new service to be used as a backup for primary corporate VPN systems that use private circuits and satellite internet access.

Hybrid VPN is being provided via BT’s global 21CN, an IP-based network used to deliver IT services. It is part of the BT Intelligent Networks line of products. The company said it will shortly roll out a Hybrid VPN for customers of its Intelligent Virtual Private Network (iVPN) service, which is based on multi-label protocol switching (MPLS).

The pricing of the new service will be critical, according to Scott Morrison, a research analyst at Gartner. “This is something most of the big carriers are doing — Verizon and AT&T offer this, and in the UK companies like Cable & Wireless and Orange Business Services have done similar things,” said Morrison. “BT will need to make the pricing attractive in the market, without under-cutting and potentially cannibalising its MPLS business.”

Read more at zdnet.co.uk.

Quattro Wireless (www.quattrowireless.com), the leading premier global mobile ad network, today announced it is celebrating the company’s third birthday with the release of the first Mobile R.O.I. Report for Brands: Results and Objectives Indexes for Mobile Advertising. The report shows that mobile advertising, once thought of as the medium of mobile personalization advertisers – such as ringtones – has become an effective strategy for brand and premium direct response marketers. Industries that want to reach a broad audience, such as CPGs, Autos, Finance, and Entertainment, are embracing the medium by integrating mobile into their marketing mix and developing innovative and engaging creative, thus driving more consumers to click, respond and buy.

The findings also make it clear – by illustrating that animated ads are twice as effective as text ads, and that expanding ads also drive higher click-throughs – that those marketers and agencies that provide an engaging experience and take advantage of consumer behavior will make the most of their mobile investments. The executive summary of the report can be downloaded at http://quattro.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/10/q2-2009-mobile-roi-report-for-brands.html

As the largest and fastest-growing premium global mobile ad network, Quattro Wireless analyzes more than 10 billion mobile actions each month – ad requests, served impressions, and user actions such as page views, clicks and video plays – to target and optimize ad campaigns and provide insights to marketers and publishers on consumer behavior. In this new report, Quattro has analyzed its over 4 billion ads sold and served per month during Q2 2009 to produce valuable insights for the industry. This data can be used to benchmark campaigns and understand trends in the usage of mobile devices in a rapidly changing market.

Andy Miller, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Quattro Wireless, said, “The entire team at Quattro Wireless is proud of becoming the leading premium global mobile ad network in just three short years. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of Quattro employees, we have built a sustainable business and successful partnerships with many of the world’s largest marketers, agencies and publishers. Today, we are excited to release our first Mobile R.O.I. Report for Brands, which continues to demonstrate our ability to deliver value to our clients and to promote the mobile channel as a critical component of driving ROI for all marketers.”

In addition to bringing new publishers and advertisers into the mobile marketing space, Quattro Wireless has been recognized by its peers and the business community with multiple awards and honors. In 2009, these included: CEO Andy Miller named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2009 in the Emerging Company category in New England; selection as a Northeast 100 Top Private Company by AlwaysOn Media; and selection by the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange as a finalist for the Mobile 2009 category in the 14th Annual MITX Interactive Awards, for its campaign for the Concha y Toro Xplorador brand of wine.

“We congratulate Quattro Wireless on celebrating three successful years in mobile advertising,” said Phuc Truong, Managing Director of the U.S. for Mobext, a Quattro Wireless client. “Quattro has set a high standard for service and delivering results with their focus on premium inventory and innovation. Given the team’s track record, I am not surprised. They have been a terrific partner to us and our clients.”

“Quattro has been an essential partner in driving mobile advertising success for BrandinHand and our clients for the past three years,” said John Hadl, Founder and CEO of BrandinHand, a Quattro Wireless client. “They have reached this milestone as a leader in the industry because they always go above and beyond to ensure that our campaigns make the most impact on our target audiences. We applaud their release of the first Mobile R.O.I. Report for Brands as part of their ongoing efforts to provide actionable insights that help us better understand the mobile landscape, and we look forward to working with them long into the future.”

Quattro Wireless is the leading global mobile advertising company, empowering advertisers and publishers to reach and engage their target audiences across mobile web, application and video platforms with unrivaled precision, transparency and ROI. Employing Q Elevation dynamic targeting technology to optimize every impression, the company’s ad serving, tracking and analytics platform and global network of sites and applications (many exclusive) deliver superior results. Leading companies including P&G, Ford, NetFlix, Time Inc., Visa, Disney and the NFL partner with Quattro Wireless because the company has turned the art of engaging and converting mobile audiences into a repeatable science.

Orange plans to launch Google Mobile App across its footprint in a phased approach and will deliver it across a large range of Orange Signature phones, which are customised for a better user experience. Initially, Orange is giving customers instant access to Google Search from the homescreen on Signature Android handsets, alongside other services such as Orange TV. In the UK and France, Google mobile search results will also include relevant content from Orange’s own mobile portal, combining results from both partners for the first time. From October, the Orange Signature Android series, including LG Eve (France, Spain), HTC Tattoo (France, UK, Spain) and HTC Hero (France) will also feature specially designed services like the Orange Email Wizard which lets users set up and use their chosen mobile email services – including Google Mail – in one easy-to-manage place.

Google Mobile App will later be made available across a wider range of Orange Signature devices operating on Symbian S60, RIM (BlackBerry) and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile. On these platforms the application will include links to services like Orange mobile portal, Google News, Google Maps and Google Mail, giving Orange Signature customers even greater access to content and tools that are useful in daily life. Together with the new services, Orange customers can continue to browse and download mobile applications that are personal and relevant to them, for example, from the Orange Application Shop.

Raoul Roverato, Executive Vice-President for New Growth Business, Orange, says, “People want easy access to the best content and services on the Web on any screen. At Orange, we have developed a range of applications that our mobile customers can directly access from their homescreen, such as Orange TV, Orange Games, My Social Place or My Social Life and the Orange mobile portal.” Raoul adds, “This partnership will also let us give customers direct access to the best Google applications across a large part of our Signature portfolio, combining the strength of two leading brands to create and deliver the kind of content people want to find and use on their mobile.”

Vic Gundotra, Vice-President of Engineering at Google, adds: “Google Mobile App makes it easier than ever for people to find and use information that matters to them when they’re on the move. Partnering with Orange is a great opportunity for us to provide their customers across Europe with instant access to the web.”

The Google Mobile App search experience has been tailored to combine Orange’s own mobile search results, so relevant content exclusively available to Orange customers – such as Ligue1 football news in France – is readily available alongside independent Internet content. Orange’s own data shows there is a strong and growing consumer appetite for simple, internet search on the mobile – mobile searches increased by 120% over the last 12 months. As such, the different approach to this partnership, combining services and content, enables Orange to continue to deliver on its promise to give customers the very best mobile multimedia experience.

Olaf Swantee, Senior Executive Vice President Personal Communication Services Orange, says: “Through this partnership we continue to deliver on our promise to make the mobile Internet even more pervasive to our customers. As the first operator to partner with Google in this way, we are setting a benchmark for openness in the mobile industry that inspires our customers, builds loyalty and helps grow our business.”

“We are very excited to see our customers respond so positively to our Pizza Hut App,” said Brian Niccol, Pizza Hut CMO. “Reaching one million dollars in sales with the App emphasizes the value of ordering innovation to our customers and how important it is for Pizza Hut to continue to create successful new ways to engage with them.”

Pizza Hut is the first national pizza chain to introduce an ordering App for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch, and is quickly approaching one million downloads. A leader in App design, this year, the Pizza Hut App was the winner of an OMMA award, and a finalist for one MOBI award and two MMA awards.

The Pizza Hut App is a convenient and entertaining way to order from Pizza Hut. It uses innovative iPhone and iPod touch features including the Multi-touch user interface and accelerometer to make ordering each individual menu item a fun and customized experience:

> When ordering pizzas, users virtually build their own pizza by choosing a type of crust in the scroll wheel, “pinching” to select size, and dragging-and-dropping toppings onto the pizza, all with visual confirmation. If an overeager pizza customer adds too many toppings, the pizza explodes and toppings go flying across the screen with an alert to make their pizza happier with fewer toppings.

> The section used to order WingStreet(R) wings starts with a bowl of wings that changes as users choose the type of wings they want. Next they select a sauce and are prompted to “sauce their wings” by shaking their iPhone or iPod touch until the wings are covered. Shake too long and the sauce flies across the screen. As with the pizza ordering, customers finish with a representation of the wings order.

> The App has a virtual waiter on call to take your Tuscani Pastas order. You can select from four delicious varieties including Meaty Marinara, Creamy Chicken Alfredo, Premium Bacon Mac ‘N Cheese and Lasagna.

Pizza Hut also has given consumers a way to pass the time as they wait for their order with a game called Pizza Hut Racer, in which users are challenged to deliver a pizza quickly while avoiding obstacles in the road. The pizza delivery car speeds up or slows down depending upon the angle of the device, and vibrations and beeps alert users when the driver hits the curb or runs into obstacles. Each time a user orders using the App they get 20% off their entire order.

The Pizza Hut App is available from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore, and a video demoing the application’s features and functionality can be found at pizzahut.com/iphone. For more information on Pizza Hut, log on to pizzahut.com or interact with Pizza Hut at facebook.com/pizzahut and twitter.com/pizzahut.