[AAP] The smartphone fad will boost the digital economy, but Australians’ love of technology will drive up energy use, a report has found.A year-long study by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has found growth in smartphones has been a standout over the past two years.”Smartphones [are] expected to drive significant future growth in mobile traffic as well as create opportunities in the digital economy for content provision, service carriage and applications development,” the report says. “However, the growth in numbers of devices and their use has increased energy requirements in supporting transmission and data handling networks.”To read this AAP report in full, see:
www.theage.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/smartphones-good-for-business-20100827-13vec.html
news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/smartphones-good-for-business-20100827-13v4d.html
www.smh.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/smartphones-good-for-business-20100827-13vec.html
www.brisbanetimes.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/smartphones-good-for-business-20100827-13vec.html
www.arnnet.com.au/article/358604/smartphones_good_business/Also see:Technology developments in the digital economy [news release]Smartphones are expected to drive significant future growth in mobile communications and further unlock major opportunities in the digital economy for innovative content and applications, according to a report on technology developments by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.The report, Technology developments in the digital economy, is an analysis of major developments in information and communications technologies and explores the implications of these changes.’Digital technologies are really starting to have an enormous effect on the interactivity of individuals and organisations that now communicate using multiple forms of media in environments that are mobile, fast, and virtual,’ said ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman.’The report assists the ACMA, government, industry and the community to understand just how rapid is the pace of technology change, how it is impacting Australia and how we might ensure all Australians reap the benefits.’Three broad groups of technologies are relevant to the development of networks and services that support the digital economy — these are infrastructure technologies, smart technologies and the developments in the digital community, the report says.Infrastructure developments have continued the trend towards high bandwidth network upgrades and the transition to internet protocol platforms, with many of the network improvements making their way into the residential environment through home networking technologies.Sustainability concerns are creating a new convergence between the telecommunications industry and utilities and are driving smart applications’ development. Smart technologies are being used to control the growing demands of the information and communications sector as well as manage the exponential increase in information made available through the internet.The combining of location-based information with other information sources in the digital community has provided a range of rich commercial and social applications that provide features beyond those of the original information sources — but the consumer experience of these enhanced features is equally raising interest in their privacy and security impacts.’The technologies covered in the paper reflect a snapshot in time in what is a dynamic and complex environment,’ Mr Chapman said. ‘The paper acknowledges the fundamental role of technologies as the foundation of convergent communications and media services in the digital economy.’A copy of the report is available on the ACMA’s website.Technology developments in the digital economy updates research from the ACMA’s Trends in communications and media technology, applications and use report released in March 2009.This body of work is one part of a broader research program focusing on technology developments. Other recent ACMA research reports discussing technology developments are available from the ACMA website and include the recently released IPTV and internet video delivery models (June 2010) and Community research into attitudes towards the use of mobile payment services (July 2010).This ACMA news release was sourced from:
www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_312250