Welcome to This Week in Mobile, the only easy to read FREE weekly summary of the top news stories on wireless communications in Australia and New Zealand. This Week in Mobile is updated daily with stories drawn from the popular press, regulatory bodies, vendors and operators.

For those that want to know more, click through hyperlinks are embedded in each story enabling you to view the source information. Note some of these links may require you to subscribe to the publication that provides the source material.

Australia

LinkedIn teams with Australian mobile operators

30 July 2010

Business networking site LinkedIn has entered into its first partnership in Australia signing deals with Optus and Three to allow their customers free access to the site that already holds details of 1.5 million people here and in New Zealand.

iPads to help doctors on rounds

30 July 2010

The Victorian government is to issue 500 iPads to graduate doctors and nurses as they move around hospitals enabling them to more easily access hospital records.

Hundreds turn out for iPhone 4 launch

30 July 2010

Hundreds of people braved the cold in Sydney to line up outside Optus and Three stores in the city overnight to buy the latest Apple iPhone.

Optus restructure to address mobile broadcasting

29 July 2010

Optus has created a division to address opportunities in new media world, such as IPTV and mobile broadcasting in a general restructure which includes the departure of networks director Soo Meng Tay, who will return to Singapore after two years with the telco.

Price war appearing around iPhone 4

29 July 2010

Telstra has upped the ante in the battle for smartphone users by doubling its data allowance just days before the release of the Apple iPhone 4. The founder of an Apple community site has come out in favour of Telstra for the iPhone claiming that consumers on the other networks would have difficulty in using their data allowance because of poorer network quality.

Telstra reunites Australia's favourite MasterChefs for new iPhone 4

28 July 2010

Telstra is turning up the heat this Thursday night, with a “three-hat” line-up of former MasterChef series 2 contestants at Telstra’s 400 George Street Store to celebrate the launch of the new iPhone 4.

Wireless to alert drivers at train crossings

27 July 2010

The Victorian Department of Transport has funded a $4 million study by LaTrobe University researchers into the use of 5.9 GHz wireless technology to alert drivers of a train approaching a crossing. The La Trobe system will extend driver ‘vision’ up to one kilometre in all directions and will be trialled in 100 vehicles, the largest known rail crossing safety study of its kind in the world.

Wright gets top engineering job at Telstra

27 July 2010

Mike Wright, head of Telstra's wireless engineering unit is to be promoted to take charge of the engineering of both the fixed and wireless network engineering arms of Telstra in a massive restructure involving up to 4,000 workers.

Price set for launch of iPhone 4

27 July 2010

Apple has set the price for its new iPhone 4 at $859 including GST with both Telstra and Optus aiming to launch it at 12.00 am on Friday. Telstra customers can purchase iPhone 4 16GB model at no upfront cost on a $79 Cap Plan or above when signing up to a 24 month plan. Optus will offer potential iPhone 4 customers a AU$49 capped plan, but with substantially better data allowance than Telstra.

New Zealand

Hiccups at launch of iPhone 4

30 July 2010

Confusion surrounded the launch of iPhone 4 in New Zealand with Vodafone first canceling the launch and then hours later announcing that it would be on sale at midday.

Telecom declares its ready for iPhone 4

29 July 2010

Telecom is offering Smartphone users the opportunity to double their data for the next 3 months when they sign up to its new 500 megabyte Smartphone Extra.

What's New

EB tackles Defense and Aerospace with F8 emulator platform

July 8, 2010 - EB, a developer of cutting edge embedded technology solutions for automotive and wireless industries, today announced the availability of EB Propsim F8 Aerospace and Satellite channel emulation Option (ASO) for the aerospace and defense markets. This new option enables realistic, reliable and repeatable end-to-end testing of airborne and aerospace wireless communication links in laboratory conditions.

EDX Wireless introduces Smart Grid planning tool

June 8, 2010 – EDX Wireless, a recognized leader for RF planning tools, announces EDX® SignalPro® v7.3 with the Advanced Mesh Planning module for Smart Grid networks. This release introduces a new Large Scale Mesh Systems module that is tailored for Smart Grid AMI systems of up to 200,000 smart meters in one project.

Radio Planning Training by Webinar

May 6, 2010 - TeleResources is pleased to announce that in addition to our comprehensive Boot Camp for Radio Engineers we also have available an abridged version that has been structured to enable it to be presented over the Web. This course has been developed specifically to meet the global need for practical radio planning training but recognising the difficulty that many have in physically attending one of our courses.

Case Study: EB Helps Aircell Take Flight

May 1, 2010 - Aircell is the world's leading provider of airborne communications. As winner of an exclusive FCC frequency license in 2006, Aircell has built a revolutionary mobile broadband network for commercial and business aviation. This case study describes the role that EB played in helping it deliver its innovative service.

Events

Real World Mobile
Sydney
31 August - 1 September 2010

The hype around apps continues. Businesses are demanding iPhone apps without really understanding why they need it. But how long will the gold rush last?

AIMIA and VentureOne are delighted to host the first mobile conference which covers the opportunities and trends across multiple sectors and channels. Hear the experiences from a panel of users. Find out the latest initiatives around mobile payments and the retail applications for mobile.

This event, to be held in Sydney on 31st August and 1st September, brings together brands, government agencies, publishers and media, media and creative agencies, digital agencies and content owners and developers to debate the mobile trends and to discover new sources of revenue.

Also hear from international expert commentator on emerging web and mobile technologies, Ajit Jaokar. Ajit has recently been appointed by the World Economic Forum to the council considering the future of the internet. He has written a highly respected book on Mobile 2.0, and is a well known blogger, consultant, and trainer at the University of Oxford, UK.

Book now at www.aimia.com.au/home/events.

Mobile Value Added Services World Summit 2010
Swissotel Merchant Court, Singapore
29-30 September 2010

Post-Conference Workshop : Managing & Monitoring Service Level Agreements (SLAs), 1 October 2010

Developing Strategic Partnership & Best Business Model in Offering Innovative VAS to Optimize Profit and Reduce Churn

Mobile VAS World Summit 2010 draws together highly-regarded expert speakers from across the ecosystems of Mobile VAS to share their latest efforts in launching the projects and provide their vital business insights on how the business models can be developed for successful project implementations and the key challenges they have encountered. The highlights of the summit will be Case Studies to be presented by mobile operators in sharing their invaluable experience.

For more details of the event, please visit event website or contact Phyllis Goh of Symphony Global at Email: phyllis.goh@symphonyglobal.com

mHealth World Congress 2010
Swissotel Merchant Court, Singapore
18-19 October 2010

Mobile Healthcare - Standardization and Integration

mHealth World Congress 2010 will be host to many high level professionals and executives coming from mobile network operators, healthcare providers for both private and public healthcare, departments of health, NGOs, telecom and healthcare regulators & authorities, medical technology & information providers, handset & device manufacturers, medical gadgets and new medical technology solution providers, open source platform developers and healthcare researchers and informatics developers.

New opportunities have emerged in this new disruptive healthcare revolution! m-Health is now fast becoming the future face of healthcare delivery management systems, and will significantly re-engineer the healthcare delivery system worldwide on the personal, collective and system levels.

At mHealth World Congress 2010, you will have the opportunity to hear the pioneers in mHealth present their experiences and opportunities found. The event will critically examine the pressing issues of standardization and integration in the largely fragmented mhealth projects around the globe and what needs to be done in order to secure industry commitment and achieve progress to more standardization and integration.

Meet the new players, pioneers & global leaders in healthcare and mobile operators in the emerging sector of “m-Health Service Providers”.

For information on this event, please visit website or contact Phyllis Goh at Email: Phyllis.goh@symphonyglobal.com.