News

May. 11, 2010: Nokia is continuing its battle against Apple by suing the tech giant again, this time claiming the iPhone and iPad infringe five of its patents. "The patents in question relate to technologies for enhanced speech and data transmission, using positioning data in applications and innovations in antenna configurations that improve performance and save space, allowing smaller and more compact devices," Nokia said. Nokia did not elaborate any further on the technologies and patents involved. "We've taken this step to protect the results of our pioneering development and to put an end to continued unlawful use of Nokia's innovation," said Paul Melin, general manager of patent licensing at Nokia. This isn't the first time Nokia has launched legal action against Apple. In October last year, Nokia filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming the iPhone infringed 10 of its patents, including GSM, UMTS, and Wi-Fi standards. Apple hit back in December, countersuing Nokia and claiming the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer was infringing 13 Apple patents. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/051010-nokia-launches-more-legal-action.html

 May. 12, 2010: BT is expected to announce this week that it is hugely expanding its super-fast broadband network. But it will also reportedly reveal it has cut 35,000 jobs in the last two years. The planned reach of the next generation broadband network will be extended from 40 percent of UK homes to 66 percent, it was reported by the Financial Times. This would raise costs above the existing budget of £1.5 billion. But analysts told the publication that it would be difficult for BT to make a return on investment unless rival telecoms firms rent usage of the infrastructure. Meanwhile, BT is expected to announce it has cut 35,000 jobs in the last two years, some 5,000 more than observers originally expected. Many of the cuts are thought to have been among temporary or agency workers. Concerns also remain about a £9 billion hole in the company's pension fund. The company will reportedly announce a return to profit, of up to £1.1 billion, after making a loss last year owing to a £1.6 billion writedown in the value of its IT services division. BT Global Services had overestimated the income due from a number of contracts, reportedly including deals with the NHS and Thomson Reuters. BT will place an increased focus on improving profits at the Global Services division, the Sunday Telegraph reported, with a focus on fast-growing Indian and Chinese markets. In January, BT appointed Jeff Kelly, former head of EDS' US business, as chief executive of the Global Services division, and tasked him with improving its financial performance. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/051110-bt-set-to-expand-next.html

 May. 12, 2010: Goober Networks, in a bid to better compete with Skype and its ilk, has announced a public beta of Goober 3.0, its unified communications application. The new version allows HD VoIP calling, multi-user video conferencing, and multi-protocol instant messaging. Goober 3.0 offers HD voice calls (with higher-quality audio). Rates are a little complicated: it's 1 cent a minute for landlines in the U.S. and Canada, and 1.4 cents for mobile lines. Calls to landlines in Europe are usually less than 3 cents a minute, but some areas are more, and mobile lines are 20 cents and up. Asia calls start at 5 cents, and go up from there depending on the country and type of line. The company is making a point of saying that its advertised rates tend to be lower than Skype's. Other new phone functions in Goober include call forwarding and dial-in (which lets you receive calls from a landline or cell phone). For your iPhone or iPad, you can also download gooberVoIP, an app that allows you to make and receive calls over Wi-Fi and 3G networks. With multi-protocol instant messaging, you can chat with friends on a variety of other networks like Google, AOL, and Yahoo. The beta supports free, four-way video conferencing, and the company plans to allow six-way conferencing in the final version of the software. Even better, Goober provides full screen video at 720p. It remains to be seen whether Goober can pry VoIP users away from Skype, or if Apple iChat users will give this alternative a spin. The actual quality of audio and video and the ease of set-up will likely make all the difference. The Goober 3.0 beta is free and available for Mac and PC. The first 5,000 people who download Goober 3.0 will receive a $5 voucher for making calls. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/051110-goober-3-beta-offers-hd.html