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Apple might be looking to save you from yourself with its new version of iOS, that any users will be able to get in septembre 2018, if they have an iPhone 5S or above. Since its beginning in 2006, iOS was more focused on keeping you hooked to your device that pushing you to keep it away from you. During Apple’s WWDC 2018 that took place this week, the Cupertino-based company seems to focus on helping its customers manage their time more effectively with their smartphone. And to help users on this topic, Apple seems to be concerned with iPhone addiction. As Google started focusing on that issue, Apple wants to take the lead on addiction to connected devices. An app called Screen Time will help iPhone users manage their time on their phone, get rid of useless notifications, change the setting of the screen to be less appealing. Another…

The San Francisco-based cryptocurrency and payment start-up, Ripple, is hoping to boost up the adoption of blockchain technology. They decided to donate $50 millions to 17 universities and colleges throughout the U.S.A. in order to promote blockchain. One of the main reasons is the need for jobs in that technology field as 4500 job openings were including the terms “blockchain” and “cryptocurrency” into their descriptions on LinkedIn. Thus universities like the M.I.T. or the University of North Carolina will get a chunk of this donation. Eric van Miltenburg, Senior Vice-President of business operations at Ripple sent an email stating, “As globalization increases, so does the demand for technological solutions and talent to solve the world’s hardest financial problems, such as retail remittances.” Ripple’s technology surrounding the cryptocurrency XRP could be a part of some studies and projects by universities, despite not being an obligation according to the company. For the…

Apple has integrated in its iPhone an instant messaging system called iMessage. It allows to send any data (audio, pictures, videos or text) through any Apple device: phones, tablets or computers, and even their watches. In 2016, VoIP-Pal sued Apple, AT&T, Twitter and Verizon for patent infringement based on its U.S. Patents. This year, new lawsuits are being launched solely against Apple, for the infringement of four U.S. Patents, that are linked to the way iMessage processes routing, rating and billing of communications transferred through networks. Those actions are not related to the one that started in 2016. iMessage and Facetime are concerned by those accusations of infringement. Voip-Pal pretends that their patents are used to conduct audio, video and text to other devices by associating them with a specific user so it can route properly the communications. The plaintiff owns a portfolio of patents on VoIP technology. It is…

Blockchain will be the next tool used by the TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority in India) to fight against aggressive telemarketing, that is using spam calls and SMS. According to the TRAI, blockchain technology is able to track those annoying telemarketers. As they use unregistered phone numbers, they are usually hard to track, and with this new way of fighting against those marketing methods, India’s Telecom regulator will be the first to use blockchain as a mean of regulation. TRAI Chairman RS Sharma said: “Blockchain will ensure two things — non-repudiation and confidentiality. Only those authorized will be able to access details of a subscriber and only when they need to deliver service…“ and added that “TRAI will become the first organization to implement this kind of regulation on such a large scale,” 30 billion commercial calls or SMS are sent every month to users in India. Most of them are…

The secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Zhao Houlin, explained at a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, that infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusion, or the “4 I’s”. Those pillars for information and communication technology (ICT) will be an obligation to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), especially for the next ten years. Infrastructure are essential to hold any economy based on communication and high tech. The future of digital economy in sustainable cities, will largely be based on the capacity to construct strong equipments for those infrastructures, not only to connect people but also objects. Strong investments are fundamental for the development of ICT. In order to see progress on SDG, innovation in the domain of finance will be needed and a mix between public and private investors is one of the solutions. Opportunity is only possible with innovation, thus small companies that base their growth and survival…

For Andrew Burchik, founder of the Prague based MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) Miracle Tele, the future of mobile operators will be found in Blockchain technology. Miracle Tele is already available in 213 countries. In late April, Miracle Tele allowed its customers to call any destination for €0.2 per minute and data from €0.01 per MB. Miracle Tele is using its own Token called TELE based on ERC20 (Ethereum blockchain) that they want to sell. 150,000,000 TELE are available at €0.1 per token. The sale is not limited in time as it will end when all tokens are sold out. This way the operator allows its users to have a choice: or they use its telecom services like any operator or they “tokenize” their assets and have access to mobile plans by purchasing them with TELE. According to M. Burchik, as smartphones are less a used for conventional communications, operators…

No doubt, “blockchain” is the hottest buzz word being discussed across all industries, and telecommunications is no exception. The blockchain is being proposed for use in various applications in the telecommunications industry, such as securing CDRs, billing data and access logs, ensuring data authenticity or ensuring strict operational procedures. Blockchain will certainly optimize costs by eliminating third-parties such as clearing houses, automating audits and improving fraud detection. However, there is one area where the use of blockchain technology has the potential to not only benefit the operators, but will have a revolutionary impact on the way we all understand, use and protect our identities. The Phone Number as your Digital ID Our phone number is our most valuable digital identity, and will remain the only unique international method of identification well into the future. The PSTN, which is wholly based on the use of phone numbers, is the largest social…

The Irish government announced the signing with Apple of an agreement allowing the payment, in a blocked account, of 13 billion euros tax benefits deemed undue by the European Union.  In August 2017, the EU commission said a sweetheart deal devised by the Irish government had allowed Apple to pay tax of just 0.005% in 2014 and an average rate of 1% over many years. Brussels estimates that the US company has paid too little tax in Ireland because of a tax agreement with the country’s authorities, which would have allowed the Government to tax only a tiny part of the billions earned by Apple in Europe. Ireland is home to the European headquarters of Apple, which records all the profits made in this geographical area as well as in Africa, the Middle East and India. The 13 billion euros should be transferred to the blocked account by the end of the…

French researchers are starting to work on the blockchain! Inria, Télécom ParisTech, Télécom SudParis and SystemX signed a framework agreement on Tuesday March 6th, to coordinate their research efforts in the blockchain area. Called “Bart” (Blockchain Advanced Research & Technologies), this initiative will last for six years and will mobilize thirty researchers. Its aim is to remove the technological barriers that slow down the deployment of blockchain-driven data storage, a technology which is currently attracting the interest of many industries. Three main challenges will be addressed: 1 – Scaling up In one second, six or seven transactions took place on the Bitcoin blockchain, versus several thousand for the Visa credit card system. This slowness limits the use of the blockchain on a larger scale. The problem is due to the validation technique required for transactions, with transactions being grouped into blocks that must be validated by a computer calculation process called mining. Typically, it takes about…