Qualcomm enhances BREW, drops UMB
Published: 19 November, 2008
READ MORE: Qualcomm
It became apparent a year ago that, of the three main OFDMA-based platforms emerging as stepping stones to 4G, Qualcomm's Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) was the also-ran. Now, with CDMA majors like Verizon Wireless signing up for LTE migration, and some like Sprint opting for WiMAX, Qualcomm has officially cancelled UMB development and will focus on LTE, where it already claims a headstart on the device silicon side. It will start sampling multimode LTE chips in the second quarter of 2009. One of the raisons d'etre for UMB was to support hand-off to, and backward compatibility with, CDMA systems, but the 3GPP2 body that controls CDMA2000 standards has now accomplished this for LTE.
Qualcomm remained relatively upbeat, saying it would make some minor lay-offs but was expecting a rebound in the market from the middle of next year.
It may also reposition its MediaFLO mobile television system to gain wider uptake beyond the pay TV world, where it is seeing limited support outside the US. US MediaFLO head Bob Bradle told attendees of the Mobile Marketing Forum that the platform is not yet seeing mainstream subscriber uptake, but has a new opportunity in hosting temporary channels and live event coverage.
"People are really drawn to the service as a way to connect to live events," RCRnews reported, adding that live streams command an average viewing time of 20 minutes, and temporary channels can piggyback on more popular terrestrial broadcasts.
Despite subscriber reluctance to pay for mobile TV, Bradley said MediaFLO expects to nearly double its market presence by the end of next year thanks to airwaves freed up by teleCoast in the US and a Thuraya satellite gateway in the United Arab Emirates.
The chip giant has also released a software development kit for its BREW Mobile Platform which it says will bridge the gap between mobile apps and the web. It includes enhanced support for native applications, and for Flash, advanced touchscreens, window management and rich multimedia.
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