Two Novarra bits: it expands into mobile broadband and adds widgets to Vision mobile multimedia platform

Novarra released two stories today. First off, it has expanded its Vision mobile internet and multimedia platform to mobile broadband. It now provides support for laptops, notebooks and MIDs. The second story is the addition of mobile widgets to the Vision platform.

Mobile Broadband:

The new functions are integrated with the release of Vision platform version 8.0. It concentrates on traffic optimisation and acceleration. The support covers a broad range of IP-based traffic including web, streaming media, internet applications and services. Novarra released a basic list of what support networks can expect for mobile broadband:

· Increased network throughput and lower costs through payload reduction of up to 80% due to transparent application layer algorithms
· Easy to deploy – no new client software required
· A single platform to service all devices including mobile phones and laptops on any network
· Multimedia services optimised for network and device via frame rate control and adaptation
· Operator-configurable service and QoS performance tiers
· New revenue-generating service offerings for operators including personalisation, usability aids, navigation toolbars and interstitial content and advertising
· Clear understanding of consumer behaviour, traffic and service metrics via analytics dashboard and reporting
· Operator-grade availability and scalability to efficiently service tens of millions of users
· Open, standards-based architecture designed to easily integrate with existing network infrastructure

From the release:

“Laptop traffic is becoming an increasingly important element of our operators’ mobile internet initiatives,” comments Randy Cavaiani, vice president, marketing for Novarra. “The Vision platform is an open architecture core network element that is unique in its ability to enable the full mobile internet across the operators’ entire device portfolio, from mass market devices to smartphones to laptops. By servicing all mobile internet traffic via Novarra, operators can enhance performance, enable new services, extend branding, and create new advertising opportunities.”

Mobile Widgets:

Another update for Vision is new support for web widgets. The solution allows a wide variety of widgets to run on both feature phones and smartphones, and supports multiple widget frameworks like Nokia Webkit and Opera Widgets. A lot of the number crunching will be done on in-network servers, making it easier for mid-tier handsets to run more complex widgets. Vision will also have common developer tools and access to a cross-platform scripting library, to assist with widget development

From the release:

“Novarra’s expertise and patented server-based technology for mobile internet content delivery uniquely positions us to deliver this best-in-class widget experience,” comments Randy Cavaiani, vice president, marketing. “Fragmentation of handset platforms, widget environments and content sources need no longer slow time to market and limit richness of the user experience. Consumers can now easily enjoy their favourite mobile widgets from a large variety of content providers across a broad range of handsets.”

What we think?

Convergence and interoperability are going to be huge this year. Not only have we got a mobile Internet company pushing into mobile broadband territory, but this isn’t the first story we’ve seen this week about creating an open community for developers. The Motorola deal with DeviceAnywhere is part of the same trend. The more people there are working on the same standards, the better it will be for the entire mobile Internet community. It’s also nice to see more mobile web firms doing so well that they can push out and into other territories.