Telecoms network API exposure to software developers looks like a straightforward game in some cases and like an eternal struggle in others. The market opportunity is sized to be in the billions of dollars. Network operators are torn between going it alone, inspired by vertical ecosystems some Internet players were able to create and thereby following the mantra of differentiation, or teaming up with others for the sake of reach and economies of scale. Telefonica’s BlueVia has made some noise recently with Telenor joining the BlueVia initiative in Oct 2012. What’s happening in the industry? Continue reading
Category Archives: Technology
Open Web Platform – Relentless Progress
Once a year, the World Wide Web gathers in the form of its ‘member companies’ and experts to meet, take stock, look into the future and debate what the focus areas shall be to improve the web. The organisation undertaking this effort is the World Wide Web Consortium, W3C. End of Oct 2012, the latest gathering took place, this time in France. Some of the discussions stay private to the consortium members, others are public. Here some opinions on the public aspects. Continue reading
Has Firefox OS A Good Chance Against The Big Smartphone Platforms from Google and Apple?
More recently news emerged about handset manufacturer ZTE showing off a mobile phone with a new operating system called Firefox OS. Fire is all over the place now. News about a Firefox OS app store leaked onto the Web and Mozilla has brought Firefox OS now to the public on YouTube [1]. There is buzz around what Mozilla and a few network operators are in the process of creating. A new web-based operating system for smartphones, completely open for innovation and much less proprietary then what we got used to, namely Android phones and iPhones. Is the end near for Apple’s ever-rising stock price? Let’s have a closer look. Continue reading
Will HTTP 2.0 Revolutionise Business and the Web?
HTTP 2.0? Ever heard before? It’s a new version of the HTTP protocol being worked on by Internet engineers, specifically now with major input in 2012 from Google and Microsoft. Every time you are browsing the Web, the chosen Internet address likely shows http:// in the address bar. Most likely this is HTTP version 1.1 in use. What sort of revolution is to be expected from the new version? When? What’s the innovation that’s supposed to come along with it? We shed some light on this. Continue reading
Software Developer Guidelines from the Mobile Telecoms Industry? Worth a Look
The first announcement came in Feb 2012, at the industry conference Mobile World Congress: The industry association GSMA has been working on software development guidelines for smartphone applications. This work is continuing. Does it mean that mobile network operators are now aiming at becoming software development consultancies? Not exactly. There is a more significant rationale behind this. Continue reading
About REST and REST APIs on the Web and in Mobile Telecoms
There has been a lot of buzz in the mobile telecoms industry about a new era, characterised by the emergence of RESTful application programming interfaces (APIs). What is REST in the first place, where are we in the process, has it made a difference, why are RESTful APIs supposedly better than the ones which are not full of rest? Continue reading