Vodafone launches first 5G ‘open RAN’ site in UK

US tech group’s $75bn bid pushed shares of video game companies higher on acquisition speculation

California Governor Gavin Newsom has presented a $286.4-billion budget proposal for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. This so-called California Blueprint includes $22.5 billion in climate-related investment, and some $6.1 billion of this consists of EV-related initiatives. Newsom defended the aggressive scale of the state’s proposed investment, and gently chided the US federal government for its far... Read more »

Nikola and Proterra have announced a multi-year supply agreement to power Nikola’s zero-emission Class 8 semi-trucks with Proterra’s battery technology. Proterra’s US-made battery systems feature a customizable design to fit within a variety of vehicles. The companies expect to incorporate Proterra’s products in the Nikola Tre battery-electric vehicle and Tre fuel cell electric vehicle. Proterra... Read more »

Mining and metals company Rio Tinto plans to purchase a lithium project in Argentina for $825 million from Rincon Mining in a transaction that’s expected to close in the first half of 2022. The Rincon lithium project is in the Salta province of Argentina, and currently hosts a pilot lithium production plant. After the purchase... Read more »

Network connections are becoming more complex as more devices require connectivity from infinitely more locations. This proliferation of IoT has driven demand for software-defined solutions to optimize networking costs, improve enterprise agility/scalability, and enable the integration of cloud applications.   Although the emergence of secure access service edge (SASE), which integrates SD-WAN with edge security, has contributed to some players labelling SD-WAN as outdated. However, global technology intelligence firm ABI Research believes that there is still a considerable market opportunity across the entire software-defined portfolio, for innovative suppliers looking to keep up with enterprise vertical demand.There are certain suppliers leading the way in the SD-WAN marketspace including Cisco, VMware, and Aruba. However, key cloud native innovators such as Cato Networks and Aryaka Networks are challenging the traditional leaders, by offering solutions that shift computing to the cloud, enabling enterprise verticals to develop versatile and scalable cloud native networking strategies. These providers will become increasingly important given the benefits that shifting network infrastructure and applications to the cloud can bring to nearly all enterprise verticals.“As enterprises shift toward ‘cloud native’ strategies, it is imperative for suppliers to keep in lock step with enterprise demand by providing universal access to network Points of Presence (PoPs). For SD-WAN suppliers, the most efficient strategy would be the formation of partnerships with public providers, such as Equinix or Megaport,” explains Reece Hayden, enterprise connectivity and distributed edge computing Research Analyst at ABI Research. “This would provide them with near-immediate global coverage with limited set-up costs.”Communication service providers, appliance vendors, and enterprise verticals still have a lot to gain from SD-WAN. “Lateral thought and product innovation remain the key requirements for suppliers within the enterprise connectivity ecosystem. Suppliers must continue to drive innovation across the entire SD-portfolio and offer solutions that seamlessly integrates the traditional (office) and new (home) workplaces with complete visibility and universal cloud accessibility,” notes Hayden.ABI Research projects that the next stage of innovation within SD-WAN will be led by the integration of 5G into the enterprise networking ecosystem. This innovation will be led by quality of experience demand, the rise of multi-access edge compute, and improvement in security create by network segmentation. But, given the immaturity of enterprise 5G infrastructure, it is unlikely that this will be universally possible for 3-5 years. It is likely that, when the infrastructure is in place, communication service providers will be in the driver’s seat to benefit from integrating 5G with SD-WAN.With the SD-WAN market maturing, appliance vendors and communication service providers must continue to develop solutions that differentiates themselves from the competition, while continuing to keep in touch with demand from enterprise verticals. “The enterprise connectivity ecosystem is driven by demand. Enterprise verticals generally want a fully integrated, managed, or co-managed, OPEX-led networking solution that provides cross enterprise visibility and cloud accessibility; given the highly saturated nature of the SD-WAN market, suppliers must develop solutions that closely reflect the needs of enterprise verticals. While it is vital to keep an eye on the future and the migration to SASE, SD-WAN continues to offer significant opportunities to enterprises, communication service providers, and appliance vendors,” Hayden concludes.These findings are from ABI Research’s The Future of SD-WAN in Enterprise application analysis report. This report is part of the company’s  Distributed & Edge Computing research service, which includes research, data, and ABI Insights. Based on extensive primary interviews, Application Analysis reports present in-depth analysis on key market trends and factors for a specific application, which could focus on an individual market or geography.

Your community suffers from insufficient broadband capabilities, and you are eager to make a difference in closing the digital divide this decade while taking advantage of new available funding. Whether you are a service provider, policy maker or other stakeholder in the Digital Divide challenge, we have put together a program covering essential aspects to […]The post Ericsson Webinar: Solving the digital divide one community at a time appeared first on RCR Wireless News.

France is expected to achieve energy efficiency gains from 5G deployments in the most densely populated areas of the country from 2023, according to a study by local telecom regulator Arcep. Arcep has published a study evaluating different energy consumption scenarios to assess the impact of 5G networks in France. The findings show that the […]The post France to see 5G energy efficiency gains from 2023 in urban areas: Arcep appeared first on RCR Wireless News.

Artificial Intelligence is the most powerful technology force of our time. Enabled by 5G’s high-performance, ultra-reliable, and highly secure connectivity, AI applied at the network edge will deliver connected intelligence across every industry, opening up new use cases in smart cities, smart manufacturing, smart retail, automated warehouses, and more.  Today, 5G and AI infrastructures are […]The post Nvidia White Paper: AI-on-5G Platform – Simplify Deployment of AI Applications Over 5G Edge Networks appeared first on RCR Wireless News.

Some players, unhappy with Activision in recent years, said the Microsoft deal could reverse a decline in quality.

German operator O2/Telefónica Deutschland has activated the first mini-radio cells with Open RAN technology (O-RAN) in the city of Munich, the telco said in a statement. The telco said that these mini-radio cells will provide O2 customers with even more capacity and higher bandwidth at busy locations in the city. The company also said it […]The post Telefonica Deutschland activates O-RAN mini-radio cells in Munich appeared first on RCR Wireless News.

The onus is back on employers to decide whether they want to institute their own requirements, one attorney said.

Ericsson fired another salvo in what is increasingly becoming a tit-for-tat 5G patent war with ...The post Ericsson sues Apple again over mobile patents appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Experts said they expect — and encourage — grocers to continue testing strategies for dealing with delivery costs.

NASA engineers used a robotic arm with a hexapod to precisely place each segment of the telescope's mirror. The post The robots that helped build the James Webb Telescope appeared first on The Robot Report.

With a 1000 kg payload, a 3,253mm horizontal reach, and a 4,297mm vertical reach the M-1000iA is ready to go to work.The post FANUC announces higher payload material handling robot appeared first on The Robot Report.

The US Space Force (USSF) became an official branch of the US military on December 20, 2019. In the two years since its launch, the USSF has begun to recruit new service members and plan how to fulfill its mission to protect US assets in space. As part of the mission planning process, the USSF…The post Robots needed to repair satellites in orbit appeared first on The Robot Report.

Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai, an underwater volcano off the coast of Tonga, has erupted several times in the last 13 years, but the most recent, on January 15, was likely its most destructive. The blast has had global consequences: more than 6,000 miles away, waves caused by the eruption drowned two people in Peru. But the effect…

Bobby Kotick could be the star in a fun new videogame we’ll call The Great Escape: how a CEO extricates himself from a scandal over his handling of sexual harassment allegations by selling his company. Not only does the Activision Blizzard CEO get to keep his job until the deal closes—at least a year from now—but the value of his stock just rose more than $105 million. He's a winner, but then, so is Microsoft: By striking a deal after the scandal cratered the stock by nearly 40%, it gets the company without overpaying. And that matters. When it comes down to it, Microsoft is spending $68.7 billion in cash to improve the portfolio of games available on its subscription gaming service, Game Pass. That’s a very pricey way of making Game Pass more viable, although, to be fair, Microsoft isn’t the first to have taken this tack. Disney, for instance, paid even more—$69.5 billion—for 21st Century Fox’s entertainment businesses, in large part to give it more horsepower for its video-streaming service, Disney+. Still, this is a high-risk strategy, whoever is doing it. All-you-can-eat subscription streaming services have squeezed the profits that can be made from entertainment, and the same thing is likely to happen in videogames. (For our analysis on the deal, see here and here).

PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)---- $AUR #aurora--The self-driving company Aurora (NASDAQ: AUR) today announced the appointment of Claire Hughes Johnson to Aurora’s Board of Directors. Johnson brings more than 15 years of experience in evolving businesses for scale and delivering enterprise-ready products at leading companies including Stripe and Google. “Claire knows how to build businesses that scale and lead companies looking to challenge the status quo. Her independent and progress-focused mindset will be inval

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Recognizing the world needs innovative solutions to counter the ongoing climate crisis, Black & Veatch has selected eight promising start-ups to join its IgniteX Climate Tech Accelerator program, which provides funding and support to companies on the cutting edge of climate technology. The eight start-ups were selected from a pool of nearly 100 applicants, and are focused on sustainability solutions ranging from carbon capture and resilient distributed