Funambol, the open source mobile cloud sync company, today announced the availability of the new Funambol Cloud API (CAPI). CAPI is said to make it simple for developers to create mobile cloud apps that leverage contacts, calendars and pictures across diverse devices and systems. It allows data and media to be mashed up for novel purposes, such as machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, for example, using contact data in a car or internet appliance, calendars with navigation systems, or pictures for a TV slideshow. Funambol is hosting a gallery of open source CAPI apps built by its global developer community to facilitate collaboration of new mobile cloud services.

“The mobile cloud makes it super easy for people to access their data and media, anytime, anywhere,” said Fabrizio Capobianco, Funambol CEO. “The Funambol Cloud API allows developers to quickly create new types of apps and services that mashup mobile and online data across a broad variety of devices.”

The Funambol mobile cloud server syncs data and media on billions of mobile phones and connected devices with social networks, email systems and PCs. Funambol CAPI makes it easy for developers to access synced data, such as contacts, calendars and pictures, using simple API calls from high-level languages, such as Java, AJAX and PHP. This allows rapid development of apps that mashup mobile and online data and media from diverse devices and systems, for a wide range of projects.

Some apps and services that have been built using CAPI include: Automatic sync of calendars (from Google, Outlook or mobile phones) to a wireless navigation device, enabling people to always access their calendar on a GPS device and for the device to tell people how to get somewhere without manually entering addresses; Syncing pictures, which could be from mobile phones, to any internet-connected device, such as an e-picture frame, e-book reader, TV, or home internet appliance such as a Chumby; Syncing contacts, which could be from Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail or mobile phones, with people’s Facebook profile pictures, to a car, to eliminate manual entry or dialing of phone numbers; Providing contacts and calendars, which could be from virtually any source, in iGoogle widgets

CAPI is designed to simplify the task of automatically accessing and sharing data such as contacts, calendars and photos from one system or device with another via the cloud. Funambol invites developers to use CAPI to create interesting apps and is hosting a gallery of open source CAPI apps built by Funambol community members, that can be modified for diverse purposes.

GetJar, said to be the world’s second largest app store, today announced it has closed $11 million in Series B funding from Accel Partners. The company plans to apply the new capital to continued development on its consumer facing sites, its  customer solutions such as Pay-Per-Download (PPD), App Download Page (ADP) and App Catalogue Express (ACE) in order to fuel its rapid traffic growth.

As the battle between Open vs. Closed ecosystems between Apple and Google becomes clearly drawn, the additional investment is said to come at a time when GetJar is seeking to aggressively expand its offering on “open” smartphone platforms such as Android, Blackberry, and Symbian. In the past year, GetJar has tripled the number of employees, quadrupled the number of downloads per month, signed partnerships with key players such as Sprint and maintained its profitability despite a challenging economic environment.

“We doubled down in this Series B due to GetJar’s momentum as the leading open platform in the mobile apps space,” said Rich Wong at Accel Partners. “Mobile app developers need to get discovered, build a marketing channel for mobile users, and scale to massive user bases. With over 1 Billion downloads to date, Getjar has led the industry to create this unique, cross platform app store solution.”

“Getjar has made incredible progress over the past four years from a startup coming out of Vilnius, Lithuania to become a major player in the open mobile industry,” said Kevin Comolli at Accel Partners. “We are proud about our continued investment with them during this pivotal growth phase.”

“It’s hard to believe that six guys that set-up the first beta testing community for mobile app developers would eventually transform into the world’s 2nd largest app store with over 1 billion downloads to date,” said Ilja Laurs, Founder and CEO of GetJar. “We look forward to our continued partnership with Accel Partners and this new funding will be instrumental in taking GetJar to the next level in our business strategy for aggressive global expansion and product development.”

Private Mobile Networks, the UK provider of private GSM network technology, today announced availability of an enhanced model of its Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) which is said to allow a private and highly secure GSM network to be deployed anywhere in the world in a matter of minutes.

The new RDU v2 now has an operational range of just under 1km, subject to deployment conditions, and includes a fully functional GSM PBX with voice and SMS capabilities as standard. Optional GPRS/EDGE functionality is available, while flexible network options allow for connection with IP backhaul services (satellite etc) and integration with external IP PBX infrastructures, remote gateways and other RDU units.

Portability is also said to have been improved with the new unit providing a much more efficient backup from two hot swappable, internal military grade Lithium batteries giving up to ten hours use. The unit can both operate and charge from a highly efficient AC/Mains Power Supply Unit (PSU) and integral DC charging system. The RDU v2s durable, weatherproof hard-case also houses a Panasonic Toughbook, GSM basestation, wireless router with optional external antennae and rugged GSM handsets.  RDU v2 capabilities are also available as a component in a vehicle mounted form factor.

Chris Moore, Sales Director of Private Mobile Networks (PMN) said, “The latest model is based on research with government and military integrators that are using the RDU in some incredibly challenging situations in extreme, remote locations.”

The functionality of the RDU v2 can also be expanded as required. “We have a number of customers who have requested additional applications to run on the RDU v2, such as call recording and support for secure call encryption. This is an area where we have seen growing interest and, as a software developer, PMN are ideally placed to meet these growing demands,” explains Moore.

“The RDU has evolved rapidly over the last 12 months and there is a growing market not only within the military and government but we are also seeing opportunities in oil and gas, mining and remote locations such as wind farms, where Health and Safety is of paramount importance,” Moore added.

Good Technology today announced the release of its iPhone Management offering to provide “whole device” and compliance management for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices. Good’s iPhone Management offering is part of the Good for Enterprise – iPhone solution and includes a built-in Compliance Manager function.

The new offering is said to enable IT administrators to easily define and distribute configuration profiles and enforce compliance policies for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices using the same Web-based Good Mobile Control console that also manages their other Android, Windows Mobile, and Symbian devices.

“Good for Enterprise allows IT decision makers to embrace the fast growing ‘Bring Your Own Device’ trend by combining the security, management and control that IT requires with the device choice and exceptional messaging and collaboration experience that end users demand,” said John Herrema, chief marketing officer for Good. “By adding the iPhone Management and Compliance Manager functions to Good for Enterprise, Good is making it easier than ever for IT to secure and manage its entire mobile deployment without having to invest in additional hardware, management servers, or other costly infrastructure.”

“Enterprise mobility management plays an essential role in capturing the operational efficiencies and productivity benefits enabled by a successful mobile initiative” said Andrew Borg, senior research analyst, wireless & mobility, Aberdeen Group. “We see a growing number of enterprises permitting their employees to choose mobile devices from a variety of platforms, including iPhone. Combined with the rise in employee-owned devices used for work purposes, this underscores the need for comprehensive multi-platform support, along with strong compliance management and enforcement.”

With its enhanced management and compliance features, Good for Enterprise allows IT administrators to control exactly which iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch models, OS versions, and Good client versions are allowed to access their network while preventing non-compliant devices from accessing enterprise networks, applications, and data.

In addition to the iPhone Management and Compliance Manager functions, Good also recently enhanced Good Mobile Control with a new Self Service option. With the Good Mobile Control Self Service option, IT administrators can empower end users and reduce IT help desk costs by allowing end users to easily perform routine mobile device management actions on their own, such as activating a new mobile device, or initiating data wipe, without having to generate an IT support call.

According to new research from Informa Telecoms & Media, femtocell technology is continuing to mature with several tier-one operators deploying the technology using a variety of business models. There are currently 16 service commitments, including 13 confirmed commercial launches and several ongoing trials, while completed trials are now progressing into deployment plans for several mobile operators. This contrasts with eight femtocell service commitments and six commercial launches in November 2009.

In the past quarter alone, Vodafone Spain, AT&T, Softbank and KDDI have commercially launched femtocell services. Vodafone’s decision to rollout femtocells in a second European market illustrates the success of their UK ‘Sure Signal’ service which has been heavily promoted. AT&T became the first US operator to announce a nationwide 3G femtocell rollout and Softbank became the first operator to offer both free femtocells and free DSL backhaul. Major progress has also been made in the field of femtocell standards with 3GPP2 and WiMAX Forum both announcing specifications. Standardised UMTS femtocell equipment recently underwent interoperability testing in the world’s first femtocell plugfest.

“The femtocell market is experiencing maturity with many of the largest operators in Asia, North America and Europe now offering services. Global operator demand for femtocells is undeniable and recent femtocell standards milestones can only enhance this situation further. As mobile data traffic continues to rocket, femtocells look set to become a vital component of next generation mobile broadband deployments and this is reflected in the increasing interest in enterprise, metropolitan and LTE models,” said Dimitris Mavrakis, senior analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.

Informa says it expects the femtocell market to experience significant growth over the next few years, reaching just under 49 million femtocell access points (FAP) in the market by 2014 and 114 million mobile users accessing mobile networks through femtocells during that year. Healthy growth is anticipated throughout the forecast period with femtocell unit sales reaching 25 million in 2014 alone.

The expansion of the femtocell industry is reflected in the growing membership of the Femto Forum, the femtocell industry association, which now includes 67 vendors and 56 mobile operators representing 1.4 billion mobile subscribers worldwide, across multiple wireless technologies (WiMAX, UMTS and CDMA) and accounts for 27% of total mobile subscribers worldwide.

Digi International today announced the integration of the Digi Connect WAN 3G cellular router into NetCase, an on-board ticketing system with a touchscreen PC from NetControl. The French specialist in on-board computer systems for the tourism industry installed the NetCase in 35 of the buses owned by OpenTour, the Société des Lignes Touristiques created by Cityrama, that offers sightseeing tours in Paris, Nice, Lyon, etc.

The Connect WAN 3G connects the NetCase to the NetControl servers via high-speed data connectivity over standard cellular networks.  Once connected, the NetCase facilitates on-board ticket sales, card payments using payment terminals, the collection of prepaid tickets and vouchers, and the validation of electronic tickets identified by a reservation code (the tickets are validated using a 2D barcode scanner).

“With the recommendation of M2M Design, a French distributor and technical support provider for M2M solutions, we chose this solution from Digi International because it could be implemented almost immediately as it is so easy to connect to our NetCase,” says Nicolas Bebawi, Computer Manager at NetControl. “Digi Connect WAN 3G provides high-quality connectivity with built-in management. Furthermore, the fact that Digi products are used by many retailers and well-established companies was very reassuring.”

Digi Connect WAN 3G is said to facilitate a rapid, regular and practically guaranteed data transfer. Ticket validation by the server and the transfer of card payment details are carried out in real time, which greatly reduces the time it takes for passengers to board the buses. In addition, the improved data transfer for ticket validation enables the OpenTour Company to protect its system from all types of fraud.

Digi Connect WAN 3G enables data transfer for the complete vehicle fleet management with constant connection to the till for sales analysis and validation. It also allows fleet movements to be analysed in real time by means of data transfer, which provides a record of each vehicle’s trips, and offers constant monitoring by surveillance cameras and door sensors in order to improve bus security.

Nicolas Bebawi concludes: “Thanks to Digi Connect WAN 3G’s reliability, the NetCase has become an all-round effective piece of equipment for OpenTour as it manages various operational parameters in real time.  Our provision of an on-board computerised ticketing system in the OpenTour buses has become a benchmark for quality and operations in the field of sightseeing tours.”

The number of mobile subscribers who use their phones for mobile banking will exceed 400m globally by 2013, according to a new study by Juniper Research.  This equates to double the number of users this year.

The results of Juniper’s detailed Mobile Banking Technology Strategies Survey showed that banks are laying the foundations for this rapid user take-up by rolling out services using SMS, mobile web and apps to provide additional channel choices for their customers.

Report author Howard Wilcox explained: “Our survey concluded that banks in all regions are becoming increasingly innovative in their service offerings and provide impetus for user growth. Mobile is becoming a ‘must have’ channel for banks.”

The mobile banking report, however, stressed that some banks are limiting their options by offering insufficient mobile channel options for users, whilst others have yet to deploy mobile services at all.   On the other hand, there are many banks in Europe, North America and the Far East that are actively delivering and promoting their services by significant above the line marketing campaigns.

Further findings included:

• Over 80% of banks currently offer some form of mobile banking;
• Far East and China will be the region with the highest number of users in 2015;
• Demand for on-the-move bank balance enquiries and advanced alerts will fuel SMS messaging growth.

It is with deep sadness that Guy Dubois, President and CEO of MACH, announced today the sudden loss of Lodewijk Cornelis, MACH’s Chief Marketing Officer. He leaves behind his wife and young child.

Lodewijk, a well-known and respected figure in the mobile communications industry and loving husband and father, tragically died in a cycling accident last week while on holiday with his family. His death will leave a huge void for all those around him.

“Our thoughts are with Lodewijk’s family at this sad time,” said Guy Dubois. “Lodewijk was a unique and special person who loved life to the full, both in the business environment and in his personal life. His limitless energy and shining spirit shone through in all that he did. His tremendous visionary aptitude was admired by all at MACH. I will personally miss him greatly.”

Lodewijk had extensive experience of the Telecom industry, starting out in MACH in 1995 as Sales Manager and progressing to the positions of Director of Sales & Marketing and Director of Strategy in 2005. He took a 1 year sabbatical and then set-up his own company in the Wi-Fi roaming arena. Lodewijk was Head of Sales & Marketing for Cibernet from January 2006 until the merger with MACH, where he took on the role of Chief Marketing Officer. During his life, he undertook humanitarian work for 1 year in South America and South East Asia.

Lodewijk will be sadly missed by his family and all his friends at MACH.

Condolences

An e-mail address has been set up to which condolences can be sent: Lodewijk@mach.com . Letters and cards of condolence can be sent to MACH’s Luxembourg office at: MACH, Attn: Lodewijk Cornelis, 15 rue Edmond Reuter, L-5326 Contern, Luxembourg. These messages will be presented to Lodewijk’s family.