Image courtesy of Ben Dodson via the Creative Commons attribution license.

Since Apple made the iPhone OS 4.0 beta available, developers have been digging for clues as to the future of the iPhone platform. We believe that one of the answers is tethering, a technical term used to describe a mobile internet connection from a laptop/PC using a smartphone as a modem.

So what tipped developers off to this future feature? A new configuration page for internet tethering and an alert sent to users to call AT&T to set up tethering. Tethering has always been in the future of wireless data plans. It was not a matter of if, but when.

If tethering really is a feature of the next-generation iPhone, it will provide another incentive for consumers to switch to wireless-only homes – no landlines and no wired Internet. Very likely, even the most generous projections of mobile data growth will end up proving conservative.

-Subhi Andrews

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Recognizing companies, individuals and technologies that have shaped the way in which the world communicates, the 2010 Mobile Merit Awards winners were announced this week.  

Bytemobile’s Media Optimization solution was selected for an Award of Excellence in the Mobile Technologies Infrastructure category.

                                                  
Through nominations, the Mobile Merit Awards note the excellence achieved in the global mobile industry. This year’s winners were judged based on industry impact, innovation, technologies, social importance, implementation, and overall success factor.

Bytemobile’s field-proven media optimization solution dramatically improves consumers’ mobile video experience while significantly reducing data traffic in the wireless network.

To read the public announcement, click here.

For more information on the Mobile Merit Awards, click here.

-Stacey Infantino

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Image courtesy of thierryvilaysith via the Creative Commons attribution license.

The mobile ecosystem is buzzing with a variety of interesting conversations taking place. Here are a few of our recent favorites. What are yours?

Visa officially announces a case that turns your iPhone into a credit card - MobileCrunch

A sign of things to come in the video streaming space?
●As of its fifth anniversary, YouTube exceeds 2 billion views a day -  CNN
●YouTube streams Indian Premier League Cricket Season 3 live, reporting 54 million views - The Wall Street Journal

Simple ideas for going paperless - American Express

A sneak peak at the HTC Wildfire - RCR Wireless

Cancer – cell phone link inconclusive - Wireless Week

Share your thoughts with us, here.

-Subhi Andrews

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Image courtesy of André Pipa via the Creative Commons attribution license.

Are operator networks at risk of drowning in the coming data flood? Judging from the latest mobile data forecast from Cisco, they had better start preparing their networks now.

Globally, mobile data traffic will double every year through 2014, increasing 39 times between 2009 and 2014. Mobile data traffic will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 108% between 2009 and 2014.

Almost 66% of the world's mobile data traffic will be video by 2014. Mobile video will grow at a CAGR of 131% between 2009 and 2014. Mobile video has the highest growth rate of any application category measured within the Cisco VNI Forecast at this time (see Appendix A for applications details).

The Middle East and Africa will have the strongest growth of any region at 133% CAGR, followed by Asia Pacific at 119% and North America at 117% (see Appendix A for regional details).

In my opinion, the most astonishing figure from the report is: “Mobile data traffic is expected to grow to 3.6 exabytes per month by 2014, and over 2.3 of those are due to mobile video traffic”.

Better prepare the networks now!

-Subhi Andrews

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