Looks like low cost smart phones are getting attention. This bodes well for SQNS in two areas. 1 Their chips are low cost. 2 the price range they are looking at the smart phone would probably have to be single mode to get it down cheap. Telling you bro SQNS time is coming. They have a great chip for low cost and are still able to keep nice margins. Also SQNS already has a module that is very adaptable and Verizon approved. Not saying we are going to land Google but the fact that Google is going this direction says we are in the right place.
Google unveils Project Ara, a 'modular' smartphone
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By Alistair Barr
Google Inc. is planning a "modular" smartphone that consumers can configure with different features, executives said.
Google envisions hardware modules, such as a camera or blood-sugar monitor, that would be available in an "app store," like its own Google Play store for software applications.
The modules would fit into a metal "endoskeleton" designed for the phone, which Google calls Project Ara. Flat rectangular "modules" can be slotted into this frame, where they will be held in place by magnets, designers said.
"The existing way of making smartphones is mature. But there are new ways of making phones," said Kaigham Gabriel, deputy director of Google's Advanced Technology and Projects Group, which developed the concept for the phone. Mr. Gabriel spoke in an interview at the first Project Ara developer conference Tuesday.
Each module would perform a particular task. One may be a battery for the phone, while another may house a wireless antenna, or a camera. Google controls the design of the endoskeleton, while outside developers will design the modules.
Google is hoping to harness the creativity of thousands of developers to build a large ecosystem of hardware modules. Google plans to start with an entry-level phone with basic functions that would cost roughly $50 to make.
Google didn't say how much it plans to charge for the phone.
Google also is planning an online marketplace where consumers buy additional modules, depending on what they want their phone to do.
"We want it to be like an app store," Mr. Gabriel said. "You may want a blood-sugar monitor and a cigarette lighter on your phone. Why should you not have that?"
Software-based app stores, such as Apple's App Store and Google Play, are rich profit sources because they typically take about 30% of the money spent on apps.
Rajeev Chand, head of research at Rutberg & Co., an investment bank focused on the wireless and digital-media industries, said Project Ara is a powerful idea because it could let smartphone users upgrade their gadgets more cheaply and more often, rather than replacing the entire device every 18 months, as many do now.
For Project Ara to succeed, large hardware makers need to embrace the platform and make their own modules, while wireless network carriers also need to get on board, Mr. Chand added.
There's also the question of whether many consumers will want to spend time customizing their phones with complex new components, Mr. Chand said. "There may not be a consumer market for this," he added.
The phone's creators are working on an app to help users select modules.
They also are considering using eye tracking and heart-rate sensors to check if users are overwhelmed by the choices, said Paul Eremenko, the head of Project Ara. If stress levels rise, the configurator app will whittle down the choices to a more manageable selection, he explained.
"The smartphone ecosystem is in early stages of its development, like the car in the early 1900s when you could have any color you wanted as long as it was black," Mr. Eremenko explained. "Today, about 25% of the value of automobiles is in the customization. We want to do that with smartphones."
Sequans announces new single-mode LTE module for tablets and mobile computers
New EZLinkLTE VZ20M module and VZ21M variant with GPS are the industry’s first single-mode LTE solutions in M.2 form factor for LTE bands 4 and 13
PARIS – October 8, 2013 – 4G chipmaker Sequans Communications S.A. (NYSE: SQNS) today announced availability of the VZ20M and VZ21M modules, the newest members of its EZLinkLTE™ family of single-mode LTE modules. The VZ20M, recently certified by Verizon Wireless, is a complete M.2* connectivity solution for the design of tablets, notebooks, and laptop computers, and is the second module to be released by Sequans following the VZ20Q, a surface-mountable QFN module, which was introduced in Q2 and certified by Verizon Wireless in September. Sequans also offers the VZ21M, a variant of the VZ20M that includes GNSS (global network satellite system), for those designers who want to include location services. Sequans’ EZLinkLTE modules give device makers plug-and-play LTE connectivity solutions that significantly reduce development cost and time. Sequans’ EZLinkLTE modules are the first Verizon Wireless certified, single-mode LTE modules in the industry to support both LTE bands 4 and 13.
“Our EZLinkLTE modules provide real benefits to device makers because everything is included and each one is pre-integrated, pre-tested, and pre-certified,” said Georges Karam, Sequans CEO. “EZLinkLTE modules are powerful yet simple solutions for adding LTE connectivity to just about any type of device—we now offer VZ20Q for consumer electronics and M2M devices, VZ20M for notebooks and laptops, and VZ21M for designs with GPS capability.”
Sequans’ EZLinkLTE modules are based on Sequans Mont Blanc LTE platform and SQN3120 baseband chip. The chip is compliant with 3GPP release 9 and delivers category 4 throughput of up to 150 Mbps in the downlink. The modules include the baseband and all other elements necessary for a complete LTE modem system. These include an LTE-optimized RF transceiver and a complete dual-band RF front-end for bands 4 and 13, key interfaces, LP-DDR SDRAM, embedded boot Flash, and VC-TCXO, all in a single, compact package. EZLinkLTE modules support all major operating systems, including Windows, Android, Linux, Google Chrome, and MAC OS for maximum versatility.
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