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Understanding Convergence

Convergence has been the mantra of the Information and Communication Technologhy industry for the last few years, and it is defining the strategy of every Telco, broadcaster, ISP, and phone manufacturer in the world. Technically, convergence defines a multi-media environment and/or network where signals, regardless of type (i.e. voice, quality audio, video, data, etc.) and encoding methodology may be seamlessly exchanged between independent endpoints with similar characteristics. From the user’s perspective, this means that all media and communication channels can be merged and received on any device, and the related brands will soon be offering all the related services. This opens the way to an exponential series of combinations, such as SMS on the TV; TV on the mobile phone; digital pictures moving from the PC, to the TV, to the mobile phone, and so on. Therefore, it is of strategic business value to understand how people are presently using the disparate services and devices …

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Stefana's work receiving lots of attention
By Richard Anderson on January 2nd, 2008.

 


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