The Development of Fourth-Generation Infrastructure in Southeast Asia

Fourth-generation networks have been common in many industrialized countries since their inception early in the twenty-first century. However, developing Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma, and Thailand are latecomers to the fourth-generation market. Despite the absence of fourth-generation-capable networks in these countries, their citizens have invested in fourth-generation devices such as the BlackBerry smartphone, the touch phone, as well as touch tablets. In the hands of their owners, these phones regrettably have not been able service their needs to the fullest potential, because of the lack of native fourth-generation network providers in their respective countries.
However, American companies such as RIM, the makers of BlackBerry, have begun negotiations with Southeast Asian mobile phone carriers. One of the best examples of this has been the recently launched BlackBerry Singapore. The satellite company provides Singaporean subscribers as well as visiting Blackberry users with access to the latest and greatest applications and other BlackBerry software which is available in the US, as well as on-site and online technical support. This has allowed Singaporean subscribers to use applications and services that have been unavailable to them previously. Because of these developments, foreign investment and business ventures in Singapore are at an all-time high. The partnership that exists between Black Berry and native Singaporean companies associated with mobile communications has given the Singaporean citizen the technological tools to communicate and conduct business with others across the world in an efficient and expeditious way.
Research has shown that Black Berry as well as their competitors in the US and Western Europe has all begun negotiations with other Southeast Asian countries. Given the excellent performance of satellite companies like Black Berry Singapore, it is only a matter of time before fourth-generation technology and its associated networks span all of Asia. In fact, Black berry will soon be launching satellite companies such as Black Berry Hong Kong and Black Berry Taiwan. If this trend continues it is highly likely that business analysts and market researchers will soon see the developments of even more satellite companies throughout the Middle East and the African continent as well.
In my opinion, fourth-generation technology and its associated networks will become the foundation of international business and international personal communication within the next two to three decades. This will allow instantaneous communication between people and organizations the matter their location on the globe. Furthermore, these continuous developments will continue to play a pivotal role in the economic and financial betterment of the developing world.

Introducing the BlackBerry PlayBook

The PlayBook is the newest product to be launched by RIM. It focuses specifically on business customers. It seems to be a direct alternative to Apple’s iPad. It runs on a 1GHz dual-core processor, comes with storages that range from 16GB to 64GB, a 7-inch display, and a dual 1080p High Definition camera for video capturing and conferencing. The PlayBook was launched with Wi-Fi capabilities.

On its launch day 50,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets were sold. In addition, shipments of up to 500,000 were being planned to BlackBerry Singapore, BlackBerry UK, and other BlackBerry signature stores worldwide. That is still a long way from Apple’s iPad, which entered the tablet market and conquered it. To date, Apple has sold over 25 million units since its launch. Even though Research in Motion has made its way into over 101 countries, the Playbook made its debut in 16 Countries spread across Europe, Asia, North, and South America, and still has to make its way to other shores. The launch strategy was shoddily planned, so Apple conquered the world in a matter of days and BlackBerry’s PlayBook seems to be inching its way to more places. It is clear that RIM needs to put more effort into their innovation strategy. For a company that came into the market with a virtually unknown kind of handset, at a time when people were unsure of how far technology would go, they should have been the ones leading the innovation pack, not trying to catch up.

It has a long way to go with Nokia fast on its heels and Apple leading it by millions of miles. This innovative company is floundering amidst the fast competition hitting it from all sides. They are partnering with various companies to make more services and applications available to users of a BlackBerry Smartphone. Now all Blackberry users can download paid-for applications along with their mobile subscriptions. It still remains a safer phone to use for business transactions and for that, it will never lose its popularity.

This is disheartening because already there is news of Research in Motion releasing two more versions of the PlayBook in 2011. This has more to do with the fact that the first tablet released was only Wi-Fi compatible and would not work so well in most other countries where Wi-Fi is a bit of a problem. The biggest hurdle that most products have to deal with is shipping and being compatible with the mobile network in the countries in which they are being sold. With shipping set for the middle of the year, it might be a while until the market feels the arrival of the tablet, or worse, it could just vanish into oblivion, thus making it much more difficult to buy BlackBerry.

BlackBerry PlayBook is the First

The BlackBerry PlayBook is the newest in a growing line of tablets. This particular model has been designed to be smaller, faster, and was made for the business professional in everyone. It is only been out a short while, so how is it faring in the world so far?
The BlackBerry Singapore support was designed by RIM. It has a dual-core 1GHz processor and 1GB of RAM. It has a 7 inch high resolution screen, and is the perfect miniature size at 0.4 inches thick and 0.9 pounds. This tablet is a small firecracker.
With this advancement in technology, why did more people not clamor for a tablet that is actually useful and not just an additional gadget? Well, some people took notice. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) awarded the PlayBook with FIPS certification. This is the first for a tablet. FIPS certification means that the PlayBook can be used by the federal government. After a few upgrades have been made to the original this will probably be seen by many government officials.
One way RIM is making their tablet better is my improving the BlackBerry PlayBook apps support. As of right now, apps are only available through the BlackBerry software world which has an estimated 3,000 apps available for the LapBook. Later in the summer, however, RIM is supposed to release an updated version of the Android Application Player. This will allow users to have a wide range of apps available for their usage.
The main BlackBerry PlayBook questions concerning its usability are why is there no email app and why can this only be supported through linking the PlayBook with a BlackBerry phone? This represents a problem for the many individuals who do not own a BlackBerry Smartphone. This will also keep many government officials from purchasing this tablet because of the inconvenience. This should be something that RIM is focused on fixing for later upgrades. Instead the company intends to add a video editing app to future PlayBooks. This may seem like a great idea, but for the tablet made for the professional this serves little purpose. Most people would probably just like to check their email and calendar updates.
The PlayBook is very innovative, but so are its competitors. This tablet has the potential to be better than the rest of the market, but it is lacking in customer service delivery. This tablet does not really hear what the public wants or needs. If RIM focused more on hitting that mark, they might be able to have the best tablet.