Incumbents threatened by cable players but fibre offers hope
National incumbent operators such as BT and Deutsche Telekom have been caught on the back foot by cable carriers and their bundled offerings, with analysts expecting a mass deployment of fibre in a bid to avoid large scale subscriber loss. Investment firm Execution Ltd said that 2010 will see a step change in European fibre optic cable rollout as incumbent telecom operators seek to limit subscriber migration to cable operators.
Telecoms.com

Gartner outlines 10 strategic technologies for 2010
Gartner analysts have identified the 10 technologies they believe will have the most significant impact on business in 2010. The technologies include cloud computing, advanced analytics, client computing, IT for green, reshaping the datacentre, social computing, security – active monitoring, flash memory, virtualization for availability and mobile applications.
V3

EU project set to make chip cards more secure
Infineon Technologies AG, ST Microelectronics and NXP Semiconductors Germany GmbH, as well as its largest supplier of chip cards, Giesecke & Devrient GmbH and Gemalto, have joined forces to develop a high-security chip card platform. The aim for BioP@ss is to do the technical for the introduction of an electronic ID card in chip card format valid throughout the EU.
Comms Design

IBM announces new OS
IBM has revealed plans to create a cloud-based Linux operating system for release next year. IBM Client for Smart Work package and was oringally created for emerging markets in Africa, but IBM says it can help businesses save up to 50 per cent of software costs.
PCR

Nokia Siemens Networks Tops Infrastructure Supplier Rankings
In a new survey by Infonetics Research, Nokia Siemens was named the top mobile infrastructure vendor by service providers. The same service providers rated five mobile infrastructure vendors (Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia Siemens Networks) on 8 criteria: technology, product roadmap, security, management, price-to-performance ratio, pricing, financial stability, and service and support. Ericsson topped the poll for service and support.
Cellular News

ARM launches its processor for the masses
UK low power chip designer ARM has announced the latest addition to its Cortex A family of application processor designs - the Cortex A5 - and is positioning it as the processor to bring Internet connectivity to the "next billion" users of mobile devices.  The Cortex A5 has many of the capabilities of its bigger brothers that are in top-end smartphones, but is smaller and more power-efficient, meaning lower price. The smaller size will mean lower price, as more can be produced on one silicon wafer.
Hexus

Apple launches ‘Magic Mouse’
Apple has announced updated versions of its iMac and MacBook systems along with a new multi-touch mouse.  The new iMacs will boast either a 21.5 or 27 inch display and will range in price from £949 to £1,599.  Accompanying the iMac overhaul is the addition of a new mouse. Dubbed the " Magic Mouse", the multi-touch device will be the first to support multi-touch finger gestures rather than clicking on buttons or scroll wheels.
V3

China reaches one billion lines
According to statistics provided by each of China's three main carriers for the end of September, the combined group has hit a milestone, reaching one billion telecom access lines between them.  China Mobile had more than 500 million mobile customers, China Telecom boasted over 240 million (including fixed and mobile), and China Unicom Ltd. had 250 million.
Light Reading

New Google Music Service Launch Imminent
Multiple sources are reporting that Google will soon launch a music service.  It is rumoured that the company has spent the last several weeks securing content from the major music labels for the launch of the service. One source has referred to the new service as Google Audio.  Current understanding is that the service will be very different to the Google China music download service that they launched  in 2008. That service, which is only available in China, allows users to search for music and download it for free.
TechCrunch

Mintera wins 40G contract with NSN
Mintera has announced a major 40Gb/s contract with Nokia Siemens Networks.  The contract is significant largely because NSN was the core customer of Mintera’s number one rival, StrataLight.  NSN is deploying Mintera’s 40G linecards into its hiT 7300 long-haul DWDM system.  The continued backing of 40G technology by NSN is a big boost to optical equipment manufacturers who have invested millions in developing the high speed networking kit against the possible risk of a jump to implementation of 100G systems.
Light Reading