Video to rule mobile data

Cisco says mobile video data traffic is exploding, predicting that video content will account for 66% of all mobile data traffic by 2014, reports Computerworld.

The prediction is based on a summary of independent analysts' forecasts and real-world data usage studies, which project there will be more than five billion personal devices running on mobile networks in four years. The figure includes emerging devices like the Apple iPad, and devices expected to handle a good deal of video data.

The Cisco forecast says the amount of mobile video alone will have grown by a factor of 66 between 2009 and 2014. The total volume of mobile data traffic will amount to 3.6 exabytes per month in 2014, having grown at a rate of 108% per year between 2009 and 2014.

Boingo Wireless has released its software for worldwide WiFi access in the most popular mobile marketplaces. The software enables smartphones across a wide range of mobile operating systems with access to high-speed WiFi in more than 125 000 hotspots around the world, says The Vancouver Sun.

Smartphone users can download and install the application from the Android Marketplace, Apple App Store, Blackberry App World, Nokia Ovi Store, Sony Ericsson PlayNow arena, and Windows Mobile Marketplace.

The application is cited to improve the WiFi user experience for smartphone owners by providing a convenient, automated way to connect. It proactively notifies users when they are in a Boingo hotspot, and connects to the Boingo network with a single click.

Broadcom has released additional capabilities in its software stack and a new chip for navigation in Android-based devices, according to PC World.

The company added support for Bluetooth 3.0 and the WiFi Direct specification to its software stacks. By using WiFi technology, Bluetooth 3.0 increases the maximum throughput of the personal-area networking standard to more than 20Mbps from roughly 2.1Mbps.

WiFi Direct allows wireless LAN client devices, such as smartphones and PCs, to communicate directly without going through an access point.