Richard Fry, VP business development at Cognovo

Mobile internet usage has increased more than 2000% since the availability of smart phones such as Android and Apple devices.  The challenge for the mobile industry world-wide is to ensure that data networks continue to meet the demand created by increasingly intelligent devices that enable people to do more than ever from the phone in their pocket.  Mobile operators and handset manufacturers are now looking to future technologies to help increase data speeds and enable new services in mobile. 

In China, a wireless standard known as TD-SCDMA has been adopted as the country’s 3G, or Third Generation mobile technology.  Mobile phones are enormous business in China – most mobiles are manufactured there and the country also represents one of the biggest opportunities for future growth in mobile subscribers.

UK-based semiconductor and software IP licensing company Cognovo specialises in developing software defined modems for TD-SCDMA.  The company also develops LTE (Long Term Evolution) modems, expected to be the standard for next generation mobile communications globally. 

Though only founded last year, Cognovo is a product of long established Cambridge-based TTPCom and is a spin off from the UK’s market leader in mobile semiconductor technology, ARM.

Richard Fry, vice president of business development at Cognovo, is attending the Enabling Innovation at Shanghai World Expo trade missions to China in July. Fry believes that visiting China with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) offers a major opportunity to Cognovo: “Despite having done a lot of business in China previously as TTPCom, with Cognovo we want to identify potential new customers and meet other parts of the supply chain, including network operators, silicon vendors and platform vendors,” he explains.

“Joining the trade delegation gives us the opportunity to meet China Unicom, the Guangdong 3G Alliance and other influential decision makers from China’s fast growing mobile industry.

www.cognovo.com

The mobile industry generates around 183 million tonnes of CO2 annually, according to research.  This places the industry on a par with the automotive and aviation industries in terms of its carbon emissions.  Reduced power consumption is a critical issue for an industry still growing world-wide at a phenomenal rate – not least because reducing the industry’s reliance on power will enable real cost savings for mobile operators.

4energy, a UK company based near Nottingham, was established in 2005 to help mobile network operators reduce their reliance on power, particularly by providing cooling systems for mobile network base stations.  Pat Tindale, CEO and joint founder at 4energy, says at least one UK mobile network operator has already rolled out the cooling system to more than half of its network. “By changing from a traditional cooling system, the network has saved around 20 million kWh of electricity every year,” says Tindale.

“All major Chinese ICT companies see energy saving as a key part of their corporate responsibility as well as an effective way to reduce operating costs.  We have just come to the end of a nine month demonstration project with one of the major network operators in China.  They have experienced a 75% saving without any additional maintenance costs,” continued Tindale.

This project has been one of the reasons why 4energy has decided to participate in the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) mission to China in July.  “UKTI has supported our business development across many countries in the world,” says Tindale. “It has provided us with valuable links to and information about all our potential customers.  The opportunity to be involved with the trade mission focussed on Chinese mobile network operators provides an excellent opportunity to attract potential new customers as well as deepening our relationship with our current customer.”

Cambridge Audio's 650BD Blu-ray player

Bringing new sounds to new markets

Britain’s resurgence as a driving force in the global market for quality hi-fi equipment is demonstrated by the growing number of brands that fill living rooms and home cinemas.

Audio Partnership may not be an instantly recognisable name to the consumer, but the brands it owns and manages – including Cambridge Audio and Mordaunt-Short– are.

Despite operating for more than 16 years, the addition of Audio Partnership to the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) trade mission to China marks the first time the company has worked with UKTI.  

Nick Letheren Head of Product Development at Audio Partnership was keen to explain why the visit to China is so important, “Manufacturing hi-fi requires a substantial labour input and therefore we work closely with electronic assembly plants in countries like China. Our engineering and design teams are involved closely in the manufacturing process with an operations and quality control team directly employed in all factories. This approach means that we can invest more heavily in initial research and development, whilst maintaining standards of quality control. By joining the UKTI trade delegation we aim to build new contacts with organisations and businesses in China that can contribute to the design and development of new hi-fi and home cinema products.”

As technologies develop, and the consumer electronics industry advances, Audio Partnership’s product range is expanding. “With a shift in the market to digital music, Audio Partnership is working on products to satisfy the digital music generation. The hope is that the trade mission will produce new partnerships with skills in electronic design, validation and product test systems in order to continue to provide the best value for money home entertainment products available on the market,” concluded Letheren.

 www.audiopartnership.com

UKTechnologyLive spoke to Tom Wills-Sandford, Deputy Director General of Intellect about the organisation and what it hopes to achieve by joining the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) delegation to China in July.

 UKTechnologyLive: Can you explain a little about Intellect?

Tom Wills-Sandford: Intellect is the trade association for the technology industry.  We provide connections with government and business to create a commercial environment in which business can thrive. We represent more than 750 companies ranging from SMEs to multinationals and are able to draw upon a wealth of experience and expertise to ensure that our members are best placed to tackle the key issues facing technology companies now and in the future.

UKTL: What challenges are currently high on the agenda for members?

TWS: The current economic environment, both in the public and private sector, means the industry needs to demonstrate, more than ever, that IT is an enabler for business change and not considered simply as a cost item.  This is the primary current issue for our members.

UKTL: Intellect is joining the UK Trade Delegation to China, can you explain what Intellect hopes to achieve for its members during the visit?

TWS: We have a very good partnership with UKTI. China is a huge market and a major influence in the world. On this occasion our primary aim is to gain an understanding of the e-health market; a feel for how it works and an assessment of the opportunities to help identify e-Health customers and possible partners for our members.   Healthcare is a very important sector for Intellect.  I look forward to feeding back to our members and the industry what I learn on this mission.

UKTL: And for Intellect itself?

TWS: We will also be demonstrating Intellect’s influence and position in the UK technology industry to as many Chinese businesses and government officials as possible, and seeking to meet and develop partnerships with organisations in China that are similar to Intellect.

Teluu is an example of a British innovator delivering considerable impact on the international communications market. Although founded just four years ago, more than fifty customers, including General Dynamics and Lockheed-Martin, have recognised the power of PJSIP, Teluu’s platform to enable internet communications across multiple devices.

Perry Ismangil, co-founder and managing partner at Teluu explains: “We are focused on internet telephony (voice over IP) software, providing a compact framework for multimedia communications over the internet which will run on various smartphones.”

“What sets PJSIP apart is the ability to run an application anywhere you want – across all Microsoft Windows platforms, Mac OS X, Linux, Symbian and Windows Mobile – connecting reliably to clients, servers and devices which previously have been held back by limited processing power.”

Joining the UK Trade & Investment mission to Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzen, Wuxi and Shanghai in July, Teluu will be showcasing its smartphone technology, demonstrating how the product works across multiple devices, including iPhone, to many of China’s key telecoms decision makers.

“Despite already having a customer based in China this will be my first visit,” admits Ismangil. “China has the largest number of internet users in the world, so I’m eager to see firsthand the business landscape there, and establish contact with software development companies that are interested in building the future of Internet communications in the region.”

www.teluu.com 

There are more mobile phone connections in the UK than people, so organisations are now looking at how the established mobile phone networks can be used for new applications and services.

Stream Communications is a provider of end-to-end mobile network services for the Machine to Machine (M2M) sector in the UK and overseas, using the mobile phone networks to enable data services such as the monitoring of CCTV and digital signage.

Earlier this year, UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) supported Stream Communications to launch the first high capacity 3G services for M2M in the UK at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Stream also showcased En-Cell, a Location Based Service (LBS) that provides a positioning fix or tracking service for a machine, based on enhancing location information available from the mobile network.

Stream Communications is now set to participate in a further UKTI service, the missions to China in July.  Nigel Chadwick, director at Stream Communications, said: “We have already had considerable success in Europe, and China offers new opportunities for UK companies to demonstrate their innovation and understand new markets.” 

Chadwick hopes that joining the trade mission to China will provide a launch pad for the business and support its understanding of the subtleties of engaging successfully with Chinese business culture. “We also see this as opportunity to educate the Chinese market on the latest technology developments within the M2M sector. We are particularly keen to see how Chinese network operators are servicing this sector and the opportunities that exist for us in the Chinese market.”

www.stream-communications.com