According to Juniper Research, the NFC technology will take off, after all. As a matter of fact, the research company argues that coupons and smart posters will support the growth of NFC mobile payment transaction values from $8 billion in 2009 to $30 billion within three years.

Some of the findings from the NFC research include:

• First NFC devices will be shipped commercially later in 2009 and the market will ramp up from 2011;
• NFC/Felica payments are already established in Japan but by 2014 North America and Western Europe will be experiencing high growth;
• By 2012, NFC global gross transaction value will exceed $30 billion.

Juniper’s full report examines the opportunities available in both the mobile payments market and the mobile retail market (smart posters and coupons), as well as newly emerging interim solutions such as stickers & SD cards. More information is available from the research company’s website…

OLED-info.com is quoting iSuppli on some news regarding a potential boom of OLED screens in mobile devices…

Apparently iSuppli says that OLED displays for mobile devices are going to rise from 22m to 178m units, between 2009-2015 – that’s quite a growth! However, in a contrasting statement, OLEDs will still only account for 6% of the market in 2013.

If you are wondering what the average OLED screen costs, well apparently the 2.6″ OLED in the N86 cost $7.05 – whereas the equivalent LCD would have cost $6.50. That said, shaving even cents off the BoM (bill of materials) for a device is important when you are shipping millions of units – so perhaps there’s room for that delta to come down slightly, and add another catalyst to this potential sales growth we are expecting.

[Story via: OLED-info.com via: iSuppli]

In its latest report tiled “Laptops and Netbooks: Mobile Broadband Traffic Across Regions 2009-2017,” technology and media specialist Coda Research Consultancy forecasts that portable laptop and netbook users will access 1.3 exabytes of video content per month by 2017. That’s a sixty fold increase over 2009!

This figure will account for nearly three quarters of all global traffic via mobile broadband. Unsurprising, the top region for video consumption will be Asia Pacific (53%), followed by Europe (26%) and North America (14%). Coda’s report goes on suggesting that of overall mobile broadband traffic consumption, 46% will be consumed in Asia Pacific, 26% in Europe, 15% in North America, 5% in Middle East and Africa, and 8% in Central and South America.

Moreover, two thirds of global traffic via portables will be via LTE. Of all LTE users, those living in Asia Pacific will consume just under half (45%). As for the Western world, North America and Europe may grab a smaller share on a global scale, but in Europe 80% of traffic via portables will be via LTE, whereas in North America it’s 75% of users who will access mobile broadband via LTE…

More information about Coda Research’s report is available from their website.

On paper, Bluetooth headsets are all kinds of futuristic “cool.” With a little Bluetooth-connected earpiece, you can use your mobile phone without actually having to press a handset up against your face. These  headsets were once just figments of geeks’ imaginations, but now that they’re a reality, it seems no one is really using them. Now, a new report from Strategy Analytics indicates that usage of Bluetooth headsets is declining in the US.

Given the social stigma associated with wearing a Bluetooth headset in public, especially when you’re not on a phone call, we can’t say we’re surprised by the report’s findings.

According to Strategy Analytics, just 26% of Americans with Bluetooth headsets say they use it on the daily. Last year, 43% reported that they were daily Bluetooth users. What’s to account for the sudden, and massive, drop in Bluetooth headset usage? Apparently, Americans are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with how Bluetooth headset designs – satisfaction with headset styling has dropped 27 percentage points since 2008.

Again, we’re not surprised. When was the last time you saw someone wearing a Bluetooth headset in public and thought they looked “cool.” Heck, when was the last time you didn’t think “geek?” Wired magazine recently ran a story that urged people to not walk around with a headset plugged into their ears. The cover of that issue, plastered with a headshot  of Brad Pitt wearing a Motorola (NYSE: MOT) headset, warns its readers that “He can barely pull it off, and you’re not him.”

Are you brave enough to wear your Bluetooth headset in public?

[Via: I4U]

In February of this year, ABI Research found that WiFi-enabled handset shipments were set to double between 2008 and 2010. Now with the latter date fast approaching, ABI’s analysts have confirmed that a similar pattern will hold true (or even accelerate) for the period 2009-2011. In that sense, this year is on track to see 144 million handsets shipped, with forecasts for 2011 at just over 300 million.

The important factor was the mobile operators’ changing attitude towards WiFi. At first, many feared that WiFi would take traffic off their networks, whereas now they’re starting to realize that it may instead mean an increase in available network capacity.

T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) USA is a great example — using their “Hotspot at Home” access points, they were able to deliver an improved in-home service.

Industry analyst Michael Morgan argues that WiFi has become a must-have item much as Bluetooth did earlier. “But just having WiFi in the handset isn’t enough. You have to have a reason for customers to use it. Until now it has been predominantly for data use, with voice struggling to find its niche,” he added.

More information about ABI’s report titled “Wi-Fi Capable Handsets” is available from their website.

Checking out iphonic.tv recently, I came across a part-funny, part-serious article that covered some recent research on iPhone users, and how much they espouse the benefits of their device:

Britain’s Five News and YouGov conducted a survey which found that over a quarter of all adults in the UK know someone who’s an iBore – someone who is constantly checking their iPhone and just can’t wait to show off the latest software application.

Interestingly, more men (29%) knew an iBore than women (24%) did, and those in London, East England, the South East and The Humber were the worst afflicted.

Crumbs! I like to think that I don’t talk about my iPhone much, if at all – it’s a tool that does a job (even if it does look lurvely!). I wonder if I’m now a statistic?!

What do the IntoMobile readership think – do you know someone who literally bores the pants of you with their continued fawning over their iPhone?

[Via: iphonic.tv]

My buddy Ron over at OLED-info.com has been a busy bunny – he’s been providing analysis on what the screens on a couple of OLED-sceen mobile devices are like. Short summary: not very good.

However, before we get into it, a refresher on OLED:

OLED is an emissive display technology – it means that the OLED materials emit light. This is in contrast to a reflective display – which uses an external light source – an ePaper display for example, or a ‘real’ paper. OLEDs are bright, and provide great image quality, but because they are emissive, when viewed under direct sunlight (or any strong light source) they have a readability problem.

The best display technology for direct sunlight (besides ePaper) is said to be transflective LCDs, which uses a reflective layer under the LCD’s filter. However this reduces the transmissive capabilities of the LCD, and the contrast is compromised as well. With OLEDs, unfortunately, it’s not possible to use a reflective layer as the OLEDs themselves emit light.

So all of that said, what were the handsets with issues? Well those that are not great are the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N85, and also the Samsung Omnia II. To be fair, it’s not something specific to a particular manufacturer, more a quirk (or feature, as more wily marketing types would have you believe) of OLED per se.

Ron neatly summarises:

Several companies are working to solve this issue – mostly trying to improve the contrast of the OLED displays.The Fraunhofer institute, for example, is working towards OLED contrast optimization in combination with high temperature stability and outcoupling enhancement structures for the automotive industry.

In conclusion, it seems that sunlight visibility is a major drawback with OLED displays, and if you use your phonemainly outside in the sun, perhaps it’s best to get one with a translective LCD. But OLEDs are improving, manufacturers are just learning how to optimize them and hopefully the next generation displays will perform better.

Check out the full article here.

[Story via: OLED-info.com / Video still via: pocketnow.com on YouTube]

Without solid numbers from Sprint (NYSE: S) or Palm (NSDQ: PALM) as to how the Palm Pre is selling in the US, any speculation on sales figures is exactly that, speculation. That being said, a research note from Town Hall investment Research analyst David Eller indicates that Palm Pre sales are slowing down and will probably miss Sprint’s target of 1 to 1.5 million units in the current quarter. The numbers are actually pretty dismal. Eller says he expects Palm and Sprint to move just 416,000 Palm Pre units in the quarter, adjusted from 488,000 units previously.

The holiday quarter will be more positive with an expected 785,000 Palm Pres finding new homes. But, Palm Pre sales are still expected to come up short on internal targets. Checks have apparently indicated that Sprint is moving some 25,000 Palm Pres per week, reflecting a hit from popular competitors RIM and Apple.

The problem? Eller says that sluggish Palm Pre sales aren’t Palm or Sprint’s fault per se, but that “overly ambitious expectations in the face of a weak retail spending environment [and] competition from the iPhone 3Gs” set up the Palm Pre to underachieve.

Basically, Sprint and Palm both expected the Pre to track well – too well. When you aim for the stars, sometimes, you come up short. Even if “short” amounts to three-quarters of a million handsets – no small number, to be sure. That’s gotta be tough.

[Via: SeekingAlpha]

While the rest of the world flounders in a weak economy, Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) has continued to put money into research and development. What has all that research gotten them? Well, according to Qualcomm’s CEO Paul Jacobs, the world is moving towards 3G tech and smartbooks. He expects to see more than half of the total mobile phone market to be comprised of 3G phones. And, given the significant increases in portable computing power, smartbooks will become the new hotspot in mobile tech.

As 3G becomes ever more popular, 3G-connected devices like smartbooks will rise. Unlike the “netbook,” which is basically a stripped-down laptop computer, the “smartbook” will be a more powerful smartphone with a larger display (say, 10-inches) and a constant network (3G) connection. Think of the smartbook as an always-connected computer with the battery life to go all day on a single charge. It works just like a smartphone, but sports a more laptop-friendly form-factor.

Jacobs puts it like this:

“…we almost look at it as a perfect storm of the device capabilities, high-speed networks and all the web applications that are being created. They come together and provide an opportunity to create a totally new experience.”

Still, the biggest hurdle to always-on 3G devices is battery life. To make the most of that precious battery juice, Qualcomm has been researching a passive display technology called Mirasol. We covered Mirasol a bit here. It’s an interesting technology that uses reflected like to display color images. Think e-Ink technology, but way cooler.

Smartbooks, here we come!

[FT via MocoNews]

In-Stat has a new research, arguing that mobile operators are turning to green energy for their base station installments in rural areas. The research company argues that carriers in developing countries are especially eager to replace diesel-powered generators for wind or solar-powered solutions to provide energy for their equipment in the middle of nowhere.

According to the research company:

• By 2014, more than 230,000 cellular base stations in developing countries will be solar or wind powered,
• The number of renewable-powered base stations is set for 30% growth per year,
• Off-grid stations are mostly located in Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

More information about In-Stat’s report titled “Green Base Stations: Renewable Energy Becomes a Reality in Cellular Infrastructure” is available from their website.

[Via: renewbl]