Convergence drives mobile Internet

Wide area WiMax wireless networks will usher in a new era of "full internet" connectivity on mobile devices, a senior Intel executive said, reports vnunet.com.

Sean Maloney, executive vice-president and general manager for sales and marketing at Intel, said during the opening keynote at Computex in Taipai that individuals, not households, will drive the next era of Internet growth.

"The convergence of mobile computers, WiMax wireless broadband and powerful HD-rich computer technologies point to a tremendous growth opportunity," he said.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the most connected country in the Arab World according to the Arab Advisors Group's annually released Total Country Connectivity Measure (TCCM), says Al Bawaba.

The Arab Advisors Group, a member of the Arab Jordan Investment Bank Group, calculates the TCCM by adding the household mainlines penetration, cellular penetration, and Internet users penetration rates in each country.

These results were released on the first day of the Fifth Annual Media and Telecommunications Convergence Conference, which was inaugurated in Amman by the Jordanian Minister of ICT, Engineer Basem Rousan.

The convergence of media, telecommunication, information technology and consumer electronics industries is mostly hype and now over, says Cellular-News.

The focus now is on exploiting the business opportunities created by the digital revolution, new research from Cass Business School, London, shows.

Dr Gianvito Lanzolla, senior lecturer in strategy at Cass, suggests that because the revolutionary conceptual shifts from analogue to digital technology took place in 2003 to 2004, with a focus on first mover advantage and innovations, subsequent developments within digital technologies are adjustments rather than major changes.