Tag: mobile devices

Google wireless services will be exclusively for Nexus 6

| March 13, 2015

The company is expected to begin with these services on a small scale within the month of March.

The small sized Google wireless services are expected to begin before this month comes to a close, but it has also been revealed that, at least at the beginning, the only mobile devices that will be compatible with it will be the company’s own Nexus 6 smartphone.

The company has officially confirmed that it is looking into this type of offering of a wireless service.

Confirmation of the Google wireless plans came from Sundar Pichai, the senior vice president of Android, Chrome, and Google Apps. He stated that they are focused on bringing connectivity together with both hardware and software. In Barcelona, at the Mobile World Congress, Pichai’s keynote speech explained that “I think we’re at the stage where we need to think of hardware, software, and connectivity together.”

The first mention of the Google wireless business was made back in January and it should link smartphones to WiFi cellular.

Google Wireless - ExclusiveThe service will be based on connecting the Nexus 6 mobile devices to a WiFi cellular network. While the internet giant did say that it intends to add the service availability to a broader spectrum of different mobile devices in the future, the launch of the wireless plans will be exclusively for the smartphone that is manufactured by its Motorola Mobility.

Although it is believed that this mobile technology service will become available before the end of this month, it will be available in early April, at the latest. That said, the company is very well known for waiting until the last moment before they make any true announcements with regards to their products. As they have already made it clear that this one is on the way, it may be safe to assume that Google doesn’t expect it to be very long, at all, before it will be putting getting things started.

It has yet to be explained exactly why it has decided to choose only Nexus 6 for the launch of the Google wireless service. That said, it is only that specific model of the smartphone that will be compatible. Not even the Nexus 5, which had been created by LG, will be able to connect, at first launch.

Mobile devices widen gender gap in emerging economies

| March 5, 2015

Recent estimates show that 1.7 billion women in these countries do not own cell phones.

According to the data that was released in a recent report, there are more than 1.7 billion women in countries with low- and middle-incomes, who do not own mobile devices, representing a massive gender gap within those nations.

The average woman in those economies is 14 percent less likely to own a mobile phone than a man.

This, according to the same report, by the GSM Association (GSMA), and that was entitled “Bridging the Gender Gap: Mobile Access and Usage in Low- and Middle-income Countries”. The estimate of a 14 percent lower likelihood of women having mobile devices than men would mean that there is a gender gap of 200 million people. This represents a powerful disadvantage for female residents of those countries, and a weaker opportunity for communication, information, and other resources that are vital components to equal prospects for achievement.

This gender gap in the ownership of mobile devices is considerably higher in certain specific regions.

Report - Mobile devices and emerging economiesFor example, the report stated that “In particular, women in South Asia are 38 percent less likely to own a phone than men, highlighting that the gender gap in mobile phone ownership is wider in certain parts of the world.”

The GSMA director general, Anne Bouverot, said explained that the widespread availability and affordability of mobile phones offers the people of the world an “unprecedented opportunity to improve and enhance social and economic development,” but at the same time, as women are now owners of these gadgets to the same degree as men, they have a tendency for being “left behind” not only as device owners, but also as mobile consumers.

She went on to say that there will be a considerable benefit to women if the gender gap in the ownership of mobile devices is addressed. That said, the report identified the leading five barriers to the ownership of mobile phones by women, which include cost, security and harassment over this channel, network coverage and quality, technical literacy, operator or agent trust, and issues that have to do with confidence.