ShowStoppers NewsDesk

Sensorlogic, the pioneer of intelligent asset management, is launching its XpressIQ Service Suite – a new hosted service offering that will dramatically decrease time-to-market for M2M applications. A market-ready customized application that might normally take six months to a year to develop can be completed and ready for customer deployment in less than 90 days using Sensorlogic’s XpressIQ Service Suite. The quick deployment time and affordable pricing structure – packages start as low as $295 per month – can help make it possible for solution providers to achieve profitability sooner and increase market reach.

Sensorlogic is the first company to offer fully-integrated, SaaS-enabled location, monitoring and control applications that combine network communications, application tools for customization, and hosted services. Prior to XpressIQ, M2M developers spent countless hours on research, development, contract negotiation, vendor management and “reinventing the wheel” – costly steps that many companies follow when building a new application. By standardizing and simplifying the backend requirements, Sensorlogic has enabled XpressIQ users to focus on using feature-rich, drag-and-drop development tools to customize applications and use branding elements to create a truly unique look and feel. Wireless communications networks are already integrated into the system, further reducing development effort and speeding up the process to get devices connected.

Using XpressIQ is as easy as building a Web page using common design tools from everyday Web site editors. You can add and remove content items that display device data, choose from professional layouts and brand using color and design themes. The speed and ease of use with XpressIQ will set the bar for a new level of expectation in the M2M industry and give companies the ability to get their applications up and running in a matter of days. For more information on Sensorlogic and its unique offerings, please visit www.sensorlogic.

Mobile video is here, but consumers have little patience for sluggish downloads and even less tolerance for poor image quality, according to a nationwide consumer survey to be released at ShowStoppers on March 31 by Bamboo MediaCasting.

And Bamboo introduces U.S. audiences to a new way for carriers and service providers to automatically deliver crystal-clear, subscription-based rich media programming to mobile phones -- without the wait created by streaming or downloading.

With Bamboo MediaCasting’s SilverStripe solution, programming is automatically delivered and stored on the subscriber’s phone, where the subscriber can immediately play and replay it. The solution eliminates several major barriers to carrier and user satisfaction with the current state of mobile video, including dissatisfaction with image quality and loading speed, according to Bamboo MediaCasting CEO Guy Morag.

“Bamboo MediaCasting is mobile media without the wait,” Morag says. “Carriers who deploy our solution enable their subscribers to watch while they wait, not wait while they watch.”

Berkeley Varitronics Systems introduces a turnkey solution for WiMAX pre-deployment and testing in the form of a kit. The kit includes a Gator stimulus transmitter, Coyote modular receiver, YellowFrog 2 handheld power meter and Forecaster site survey PC software. All of these items are contained in a ruggedized Pelican hard case (included in kit) with built-in wheels for transport.

The WiMAX kit comes in three flavors to suit any network's needs: 700 MHz, 2.5 GHz or 3.5 GHz. The WiMAX kit will be demonstrated as part of the "Ready...Set...WiMAX!" campaign focusing on the rapid build-out and carriers' need for pre-deployment surveys to stay ahead of the curve by visualizing and preventing problems such as overlap, interference and network holes in coverage.

Berkeley will have Scott Schober, BVS President and CEO, on hand to field questions and demonstrate the WiMAX kits effectiveness and value for engineers, installers and carriers. Berkeley's popular Gator Class A stimulus transmitter has become an industry standard over the past 10 years. Gator simulates proposed tower sites using pure, Class A amplification all from a lightweight and rugged casing. The YellowFrog 2 power meter validates precise RF output levels at the antenna end. Drive-studies, walk-about or in-building studies may then be performed with the dual Coyote modular receiver. Coyote allows not only for 2 unique removable receiver modules, Li-Ion battery system and CF data card but also for a removable GPS receiver for LAT and LON time stamps on all RSSI measurements. From there, geo-coded, drive-study data can be post-processed using Berkeley?s Forecaster? site survey propagation analysis software.

Droplet launches the first all-software Mobile Video Service Suite that includes a full camcorder application compatible with practically any mobile handset with a camera function – instantly turning a billion devices into lightweight, portable camcorders, and turning personal movie making and real-time video sharing into as common an activity as texting is today.

Until now, mobile device users and service subscribers have been forced to live in a world of small and choppy videos, and have been limited to one-to-one real-time video interactions because of today’s video dependency on complex hardware add-ons. Droplet's Mobile Video Service Suite has eliminated the traditional hardware complexity and changed the paradigm associated with incorporating high-quality video into mobile and Internet devices and services, by delivering cutting-edge full VGA 30 fps video capture, playback, editing, sharing, and streaming via an all-software client/server platform.

Droplet’s approach of moving video capability in mobile devices and server platforms from hardware to software significantly enhances the performance and profitability of mobile user-generated video services. With a single all-software platform, carriers can now offer a full suite of mobile user-generated video services - video capture, playback, sharing and editing, social networking, even real-time video communications. Droplet’s all-software approach allows these services to be supported in an unusually broad base of existing and future mobile devices, using much lower cost infrastructure server platforms, and with greatly simplified mobile network interoperability. Droplet’s all-software solution allows $10,000+ specialized video servers to be replaced with standard $1,000 PC servers. A browser based video player eliminates transcoding and greatly simplifies network interoperability, creating the first common mobile video user experience that can be deployed on virtually any device and network.

Droplet also provides application programming interfaces (APIs) to 3rd party content providers and advertisers, enabling them to further monetize their media assets via integration with user-generated videos. Open APIs allow Droplet and the company’s partners to pursue a variety of attractive advertising models that can subsidize service costs and provide new sources of revenue through paid subscriptions and high quality.

With power-hungry radio frequency (RF) components and thousands of remote base stations across the country, wireless telecom networks are prime candidates for a green power solution. More than 5 billion kWh are consumed annually by the US wireless industry, resulting in the release of nearly 4 million tons of CO2 greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. During CTIA alone the US wireless industry will consume 41 million kWh and emit 32,000 tons of CO2.

At ShowStoppers, Eltek Valere highlights the issue with an innovative “live” energy waste timer that displays energy usage by the US wireless industry and highlights the potential savings during the show. In addition to calling attention to potential for saving power, the company will also debut a new high efficiency power system for wireless networks based on its recently announced high-efficiency rectifier technology.

“In the U.S. alone, there are nearly 200,000 cellular telephone towers. High efficiency technologies have the potential to make a dramatic environmental and cost benefit for these applications and the US wireless industry,” said Greg Fasullo, Eltek Valere chief marketing officer. “With the associated economic benefits, carriers can embrace these next generation products and enhance their efforts to go green while at the same time significantly improving their bottom line.”

Digital signage is a proven communication medium that has exploded in popularity and is expected to reach 1 million installments in the US by the year 2009. Up until now, however, digital signage has been costly to deploy in terms of time, labor and materials. I.C.G. has smashed that barrier with their innovative, MobileMedia System™, the world's first completely wireless digital signage solution that combines 3G/4G wireless broadband and leading-edge WiFi technology to eliminate the costs and logistical problems associated with traditional hardwiring.

Compared to other solutions, I.C.G.'s MobileMedia System(tm) / ViFi adapter(tm) (video over WiFi) is completely turnkey - bundling a wireless broadband network module, WiFi router, integrated media player and hard drive. Based on I.C.G.'s patented ProCo Solution(tm) technology that enables cached multimedia content to be streamed over wireless links, the MobileMedia System(tm) supports all media and content formats, as well as any Windows or Linux-based content management software. Additionally, the MobileMedia System(tm) enables multicasting to numerous displays and can be upgraded to deliver separate and unique content streams.

Providing quick and simple installation, accelerated time-to-market and the most cost-effective solution for deploying and integrating digital signage, I.C.G.'s all-inclusive MobileMedia System(tm) digital signage solution is proving how wireless technology can revolutionize sales and marketing efforts for businesses of all sizes.

Intrinsyc Software showcases multiple Soleus-based go-to-market and prototype wireless handheld devices, as well as the company’s latest solutions developed for wireless high-level operating systems (HLOS) from Windows® Mobile, Symbian™ and Linux.

Included in the demo mix is the MSI 5608 – a touch-enabled consumer handset that features personal navigation and Mobile Digital TV (MDTV) capabilities. The 5608 wireless handset is Micro-Star International’s first product for the mobile phone market, as well as the first in a series of Soleus-based mobile phones and wireless handheld devices planned by this leading global manufacturer of computer hardware and consumer electronics products.

Soleus is a complete handheld software platform, with pre-certified telephony and a large applications portfolio, which enables handset makers to rapidly develop and deploy an array of wireless consumer devices. Built on Windows Embedded CE, the flexible Soleus software platform allows numerous feature-set variations to meet the requirements of multiple handset designs and form factors. Soleus enables device makers to reduce development costs, build mobile handsets faster and incur less risk.

Intrinsyc earlier announced four design wins, two silicon bundling agreements (including one with Samsung Systems LSI Division) and the release of a touch-enabled mobile phone with GPS and MDTV at CES 2008.

Kwingo.net provides thousands of industry-specific phrases in any two languages (including phonetic pronunciation) on any web-enabled cellphone, PDA or other PC-type device. The Kwingo mobile application, built in the Ruby on Rails development environment, is fast, flexible, and makes workplace communications a breeze in today's multi-language enterprise.

• Kwingo increases productivity in a variety of fast moving sectors such as commercial kitchens and construction -- by providing fast and clear bi-lingual communications, right in the individual worker's or supervisor's hand

• Kwingo improves safety in multi-language enterprises -- an EMERGENCY button provides immediate access to vital workplace and individual safety phrases from anywhere in the application

• Kwingo is environmentally friendly -- it increases multi-language enterprises' sustainability by replacing paper-based booklets and operating manuals, as well as expensive CD-ROM language-training packages

• Updates to any enterprise's specific content on Kwingo are instantly global and available to every enterprise location worldwide immediately

Try the first Kwingo application for commercial kitchens now by typing kwingo.net (no http or www needed) in the URL entry field of any web-enabled device.

LiveWire Mobile announces its expanded portfolio of services -- ringback tones, ringtones, full-track music and video downloads -- making this the industry's most complete portfolio of integrated mobile personalization services.

What does this mean for mobile operators and subscribers? Operators can now deliver these popular services through an integrated storefront so that subscribers can do "one-stop shopping" for services and content -- all adding up to a better mobile experience for subscribers.

MOBIVOX, the leader in free or low cost international calling, introduces new services at this year’s Showstoppers. MOBIVOX is expanding their offering with the introduction of a first of its kind hands-free feature, as well as a widget that makes free or low cost international calling accessible through a wide range of communications tools — not only mobile phones, but also social media, e-mail and other Web sites where information is exchanged.

Motorola is clearly advancing the way the world connects. The company is amplifying customers' experiences by simplifying their lives and satisfying their needs for complete mobility. Motorola works with next-generation network and device technologies like WiMAX, LTE, and femtocells to deliver the rich media content that is defining the latest mobile experiences anytime, anywhere. With its complete next-gen network infrastructure and high-speed, high-cap consumer devices, Motorola is helping service providers here and around the globe to offer the advanced voice, video, and data services that fixed and mobile subscribers demand.

The award-winning Motorola WiMAX portfolio, including the new CPEi 150, provides cost-effective and easy-to-deploy broadband connectivity for service providers migrating to WiMAX for their fixed and mobile consumers and enterprise customers. And those customers can use Motorola’s Femtocell products to extend 3G coverage to their home networks, giving them wireless connectivity inside and outside their homes.

The latest addition to Motorola’s Mobile TV portfolio, the new Mobile TV DH02, is another on-the-go technology, loaded with user-friendly features: It’s personalized TV, multimedia entertainment on-the-go and a navigation device featuring a touch screen interface, Bluetooth®, a backchannel with GPRS/HSDPA capabilities for interactive services, and hands-free voice and data communications for Points of Interest (POI) and e-call applications. Bottom line: Motorola delivers innovative communications solutions that help put people, businesses, and governments in motion, and enables them to be more connected and mobile than ever before.

Consumers want to take their music with them and mSpot, a mobile music services company, brings on the go innovation to mobile phones with Remix and Make-UR-Tones.

mSpot Make-UR-Tones is the first to allow consumers the ability to easily and legally use their mobile phones to create and share completely customizable ringtones from their favorite songs. Consumers have access to the world's largest ringtone catalog, with titles from three major labels: EMI Group, Universal and the Warner Music Group, plus indie label IODA, InGrooves and Iris.

mSpot Remix allows users the access to their PC music library directly from their mobile handset - anytime, anywhere, cheaply and with a high degree of flexibility. mSpot Remix is the first product to turn computers into steaming servers, putting music at consumers' fingertips. There is no need for manual synching, for mSpot Remix uses intelligent over-the-air transfer for music.

Dreaming about owning an iPhone? Look at the stiff price first! iPhone will cost you $399 or $499 depends on which model you want but that’s not all. You need to sign contract with carriers in order to use your iPhone. In US the lowest price plan is $ 719.88 per year and goes up to $1439.88 for top of the line plan.

After spend all the money for iPhone, you now realized that there are things iPhones do well, things iPhones don’t do well and things iPhones cannot do.

Forget all those iPhone hypes! The free phone you got from your carriers can have most iPhone’s feature, easier to use and can do many things iPhon cannot do. Simply go to LifeInPocket.com on or after April 15, 2008 to register and download free LifeInPocket application to your phone and it will become more powerful than iPhone and in many cases, easier to use.

For example, when using iPhone to search nearby Starbuck, you will need to type your address, type “Starbuck “, search, find driving directionthen follow the driving direction visually to unsafely drive there. While with Life In Pocket, you simply click on “Starbuck” which you already personalized, then click “Go”, your phone will give your turn by turn voice intruction to guide you to Starbuck of your choice safely.

You can send location message to friends using your phone’s GPS or Bluetooth GPS to obtain your location and your friends can click on your location on their LifeInPocket enabled phones to navigate to your location by turn by turn voice instructions safely to meet you. While iPhone don’t have all these cool features!

Life In Pocket gives regular mobile phones iPhone power plus GPS Navigation, Location Based Instant Message, Location Based Services, Friends/Family Locator and more.

Smaato will preview "iSOMA" exclusively at Showstoppers: the new addition to the award winning Smaato open mobile advertising platform now with support for the iPhone SDK. In the past weeks since the official introduction of the iPhone SDK Smaato has developed a new way to monetize mobile applications for the iPhone through mobile advertising. The iSOMA SDK will be available for download at www.smaato.com.

Smaato already supports leading smartphone operating systems with native SOMA clients, a quick and easy way for mobile developers to ad-enable their applications. These include: Symbian, Windows Mobile, Palm, Blackberry as well as Java mobile. With the support of the iPhone and upcoming Android platform - SOMA covers all relevant mobile operating systems. Leading mobile developers have already implemented the SOMA client and receive ads from international ad sales networks partnering with Smaato including Advertising.com's TSM, fast rising Adconion Media Group as well as Microsoft's Screentonic.

New developer partnerships to be announced at CTIA include: Go Life Mobile, JibeMobile, Mocondi, MotionApps, Mobifusion, Quickoffice, Cellity and Spodtronic.

Smaato is showcasing the latest addition to the SOMA mobile advertising solution. SOMA Wrapper is a service which allows adding startup and exit ads to existing binary Java ME applications (JAR files). The advertising components are “wrapped” around the JAR file. Touching the source code is not required.

Susteen showcases Mobile Genie, a groundbreaking standalone device, which enables mobile content backup and transfer from old to new phone literally at a touch of a button. Mobile Genie incorporates a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled Ultra Mobile Personal Computer (UMPC) to deliver speedy data transfer to customers acquiring new handsets at cellular locations. Thanks to its ability to transfer applications to handsets or content to web accounts right at the point of sale, Mobile Genie delivers unparalleled upside sales potential to wireless retailers and distributors, as well convenience to cellular users.

Media FX is ingenious software, which effortlessly migrates the audio and video files from your iPod to PC, records unlimited music & video from your player, and clips your music & video to thousands of FREE ringtones and video clips. Now there is an easy way to seamlessly migrate media from iPod to PC and cell phone.

Susteen also discusses how low enforcement and corporate security consultants use Secure View to acquire critical evidence from suspects’ cell phones.

Smith Micro introduces Revue, Smith Micro Software's new multimedia management solution for smartphones. Revue enables consumers to listen to music, view and edit photos, and watch videos anywhere, anytime from their smartphone. Designed using Smith Micro's expertise in multimedia software, Revue makes managing media a breeze for consumers, even on the smaller form factor and memory limitations of a mobile device.

With changing needs and increasing crossover between the two worlds of consumer and enterprise, Smith Micro discusses trends and how to solve the problems of everywhere wireless connectivity - no matter if you're looking to download songs and movies or manage a fleet of smartphones.

Additionally, Smith Micro discusses and demos QuickLink Mobility mobile VPN and Insignia mobile device management solutions designed for enterprise security and productivity.

SRS Labs demonstrates its premium audio and voice solutions for mobile media: SRS CS Headphone™, for mobile video, delivers an accurate 5.1 surround sound experience over headphones; SRS WOW HD™, for music, enriches audio with an immersive 3D sound field and rich sounding bass; and SRS VIP+, for voice applications, provides clarity in any environment.

SRS Labs is the industry’s leading provider of advanced surround sound, audio enhancement and voice processing technologies for mobile media. The company’s vast portfolio of patented audio techniques enables mobile devices, such as mobile phones and Bluetooth accessories, to deliver a thrilling and natural consumer listening experience.

Included in handsets and Bluetooth devices from leading name brands, SRS audio solutions provide theater like surround sound for mobile video applications, voice clarity in any environment, great sound improvement for music and a better overall listening experience. Consumers are left feeling more connected with their entertainment experience and enjoy richer, more natural sound.

High-tech gadgets! Military helicopters! Going Naked! Sounds like a description of your favorite action movie? It’s actually the latest method for protecting your expensive electronics from ZAGG Inc.

The invisibleSHIELD by ZAGG is created from an ultra-thin, ultra-tough military-grade film that was originally used to protect helicopter blades. Let me repeat that: it PROTECTED helicopter blades for the MILITARY. The invisibleSHIELD by ZAGG puts that same technology to work to protect over 2,000 gadgets by providing a full-body, scratch-proof shield. And if it’s good enough for a war zone, you know it won’t have any problems resisting scratches from your keys and pocket change. The patent-pending invisibleSHIELD by ZAGG is consistently the first accessory available upon the release of brand new consumer electronics including the iPhone and MacBook Air.

Best of all, the invisibleSHIELD is completely transparent. Your expensive new gadget will be as naked as the day you took it out of the box. You can enjoy the sleek design of your device and keep it scratch-free with the invisibleSHIELD’s full-body protection. The invisibleSHIELD by ZAGG: all the fun of your favorite action movie (plus a lifetime warranty).

Enabling mobile phone users to connect to the world, cellity introduces its multiple mobile communication application, cellity Communicator, at ShowStoppers.

The cellity Communicator combines multiple mobile communication in one very lean application (only 85 kb). The feature-rich Java software bundles cool functions like free text messaging, international calls at up to a 90% savings, easy conference calls and free backup service.

And, by the middle of April, the cellity Communicator will include another highlight: the mobile email feature. Users will be then able to send and receive emails from any cell phone, no matter where they are. cellity Communicator works on any java-enabled mobile phone and with any SIM card.

Gemalto and Microsoft Show Windows Mobile CardSpace Proof-of-Concept

Gemalto and Microsoft are teaming up to demonstrate a simple and highly secure way for consumers to manage their digital identity on the mobile Web -- a proof-of-concept of Mobile CardSpace on Windows Mobile handsets equipped with a new Gemalto SIM. Learn how this combination delivers highly secure, authenticated access to online services.

Consumers want to be sure they are safe when using the mobile Web, and Mobile CardSpace delivers strong security in two ways, all while under the control of the user. First, Mobile CardSpace protects consumers by making sure they are at the real site they want, not an imposter site, and then strongly authenticating their identity. Second, Gemalto helped to implement the storing of information cards on a SIM, not in a mobile application. This provides a highly secure solution that protects CardSpace information cards by isolating them from other mobile applications and controlling access with SIM-based PIN entry. Another important benefit to consumers is portability when upgrading handsets; simply move the SIM to the new device and the mobile service subscription, phone book and the CardSpace information cards are all ready to use on the new device.

kajeet, the only pay-as-you-go cell phone service that puts kids first, will be announcing an easy-to-use Web-based service to help parents find their kid’s kajeet phone. This means that parents will be able to schedule automatic locates for specific times of the day and let GPS Phone Locator do the rest. Kids will also be able to find their misplaced phones too. This is a bit unique for the prepaid wireless segment of the industry, since it will make kajeet the only “pay-as-you-go” cell phone service to offer this feature to its customers.

Thumbplay, the #1 mobile entertainment content service in the U.S., launches an innovative mobile search service to streamline the way consumers search for, browse and download mobile entertainment content from their mobile phones. GET allows cell phone users in the United States to instantly search for and purchase ringtones, games, videos and wallpapers from the company’s catalog of more than 80,000 pieces of licensed content – right from their mobile phone or handheld device.

To use Thumbplay’s GET, all a consumer needs to do is text message the word "Get" plus any artist name to 48000 to find and download music from their favorite artist. For example, to find all content associated with a band like U2, a user would simply send an SMS message to 48000 with the phrase “Get U2” and a link to relevant content (e.g., songs, videos, wallpapers and/or associated games) will be sent back from Thumbplay to their phone within seconds. A user would then follow this link to a large menu of licensed U2 content found in Thumbplay’s catalog, which they can browse without commitment and then purchase their favorite content.

Green wireless? With Kentrox Optima Cell Site Solutions, wireless network operators will cut toxic emissions from their diesel-belching technician trucks in half! Oh yeah, and they’ll improve network quality and uptime, lower operations costs, and keep subscribers much happier too.

Kentrox announces two new Optima Cell Site Solutions: Optima Site Manager and Optima WAN Manager. The company’s groundbreaking remote site monitoring, maintenance and management solutions deliver wireless service providers unrivaled visibility and control of their cell sites. Driven by the Optima platform announced last December, operations, engineering and field staff will have the most comprehensive 360 degree, real-time dashboard views of network and physical site elements and an increased ability to correct myriad problems without the need for a truck roll. Optima solutions, such as Site Manager and WAN Manager, directly impact service quality – the leading factor driving subscriber loyalty – by delivering wireless operators a cost effective way to achieve faster diagnosis of problems, shortened repair times and reduced operations costs.

“A survey of U.S. mobile phone subscribers by In-Stat found that 47 percent identified ‘dissatisfaction with service’ as the primary reason they switched network providers, while only 15 percent cited ‘lower price,’ the second most common reason for switching,” said Charles Gerlach, managing director of consulting for the industry research firm In-Stat. “It’s clear that as wireless service penetration approaches saturation levels, network quality will become an even more critical differentiator for operators. Kentrox’s Optima solutions are comprehensive remote cell site monitoring and management solutions capable of cost effectively improving service quality by reducing outages and mean time to repair, giving wireless providers that competitive edge.”

Today when a trouble ticket is issued, technicians have little or no data to diagnose the problem so one of those diesel-belching trucks must be dispatched to the cell site to determine the nature of an outage. Once a diagnosis occurs, another expensive, time-consuming (not to mention diesel-belching) truck roll is typically dispatched for repairs. In many cases, it takes additional trips before the problem is accurately diagnosed and fully corrected. Not only that, but 1 in 5 cell site trouble tickets result in “no trouble found” (NTF). That’s bad for the environment and bad for wireless service providers’ operations budgets. With remote monitoring and automated control of cell sites, wireless service providers can start eliminating wasteful truck rolls cut mean time to repair (MTTR) in half. By speeding repairs and making operations far more efficient, Optima Cell Site Solutions also makes wireless subscribers happier with their service. Now that’s green wireless: green as in good for the environment; green as in good for the bottom line.

Vringo, the pioneer in video ringtone sharing, will announce a new Facebook application that lets you easily see your friends’ pictures every time they call, creating a unique type of “visual caller ID.” The application will be available initially on Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices, offered free for download from Facebook and will be available worldwide.